The Grey Crayon
by checkerbloom
Summary: Naruto wants the three of them to be a real family, but first he needs to get Kakashi to move in with them. Yonkaka.
1. Part 1

Naruto wriggled under the coffee table determinedly. He had to find it because he couldn't finish the picture without it. It hadn't been in the box, so maybe it had fallen out and rolled under the table. It had definitely been there yesterday because he had used it.

"Naruto, it's time for... what are you doing?"

Naruto banged his head on the table and scowled at his dad's feet as they brought him closer.

"I'm looking for the grey crayon," he pouted.

His dad's feet carried him around the coffee table, "have you looked in the box?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and scooted back out from beneath the table, "yes," he sighed in irritation, "it's not there!"

His dad smiled sympathetically down at him, "well, why don't you just use another colour? Like orange, you like orange."

Naruto goggled up at him incredulously, "I can't use orange!"

"Why not?" his dad chuckled.

"Because!" Naruto pointed to his drawing on the table, "Kakashi would look stupid with orange hair!"

His dad blinked in surprise and looked down at the picture, "oh, I see. I didn't realise that was Kakashi."

Naruto shook his head in exasperation; his dad could be really stupid sometimes, it was obviously Kakashi.

"It's past your bedtime anyway," his dad grinned, "put your crayons away, alright?"

"But it isn't finished!"

"You can finish it tomorrow," his dad replied as he walked back out of the room and into the kitchen.

"Da~ad!"

"No arguments!"

Naruto huffed and scooped all of his crayons together to stuff them back into the box. The orange one was nothing more than a tiny stub, and the yellow one was broken, but he still hadn't found the grey one and how was he supposed to draw Kakashi without the grey one?

He went very still when he heard the door open. He knew who it was when he heard nothing else after that. Only one person could ever move so silently through the house without Naruto's dad going to investigate. Naruto hurriedly swiped up his drawing and darted frantically around the room looking for somewhere to hide it. It wasn't ready yet, he didn't want him to see!

He could hear his father talking cheerfully in the kitchen, and a softer voice replying. Naruto jammed the picture beneath the couch and then scooped up the box of crayons and launched them across the room until they landed in the corner. He threw himself onto the couch and sprawled across the cushions, eyes closed.

The voices in the kitchen went quiet, and Naruto bit his lip to keep himself from smiling. He couldn't hear anything apart from his dad pottering around in the next room and humming to himself. He had no idea where Kakashi was until he felt two strong arms wind around him and lift him easily from the couch.

He couldn't keep the smile from his face then, but he pressed his face into Kakashi's chest and hoped that Kakashi couldn't see it. Kakashi probably knew that he was awake, he probably always knew. But he never said anything; Kakashi always played along and carried him up to bed.

His dad would carry him up if he asked. But he didn't want to ask, because he wasn't a baby, he could take himself to bed perfectly well. But it was nice when Kakashi picked him up and swept him silently up the staircase. It made him feel safe and cherished, and he wasn't a _girl_ or anything, but it was nice.

Whenever he tried to feign sleep with his dad, he would shake Naruto and tell him to get to bed. Kakashi would pretend with him, and it was Naruto's favourite bedtime routine. Kakashi would carry him to bed and then his dad would come and tuck him in, and then their voices would lull him to sleep from downstairs.

It was just a shame that Kakashi didn't come around at bedtime very often. He came around during the day all the time, and sometimes for breakfast too, just hardly ever at bedtime.

Naruto snuggled into Kakashi's chest to hide his smile. Kakashi moved in utter silence, he always did. Naruto knew that his dad could be just as soundless when he wanted to, but he preferred to be noisy. Naruto couldn't blame him, he liked being noisy too, but it was cool the way that Kakashi never made any kind of noise unless he meant to.

Naruto bit his lip again when he was shifted away from the warmth of Kakashi's chest, and the steady drumming of his heart, to be lowered onto his bed. He kept his eyes closed as Kakashi smoothed the covers over him.

"Goodnight Naruto," Kakashi said softly, with an amused lilt to his voice.

A giggle finally escaped Naruto, and he opened his eyes in time to see Kakashi close the door behind him.

Naruto yawned, and listened for the voices of his dad and Kakashi. Eventually he heard them talking down in the kitchen. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was nice to be able to hear them both. His dad always sounded much more cheerful whenever Kakashi was around.

He blinked tiredly when the door to his bedroom opened after a few minutes, and his dad snuck in.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" his dad whispered.

Naruto shrugged and yawned widely.

"Dad?" Naruto wriggled as his dad tucked the covers firmly around him, "do you love Kakashi?"

His dad's eyebrows rose a little, and he sat back onto his heels beside the bed, "of course I do," he replied before he leant over to place a kiss atop Naruto's forehead, "not as much as I love you though."

Naruto beamed at the attention, "then why can't Kakashi come and live with us?"

His dad sighed heavily and smiled, but he looked a little sad, "Kakashi has his own home Naruto," he replied.

"So?" Naruto yawned; his eyes fluttered closed, "don't you want him to live with us?"

But if his dad had an answer, Naruto was asleep before he could give it.

oO0Oo

Kakashi stretched his arms over his head until he heard something pop loudly. He had spent the entire day hunched over a desk pouring over scrolls for his ex-teacher, and even though such a task was far beneath his skills, he didn't really mind.

"That sounded painful," the Hokage winced as he strolled back into the kitchen.

"Felt kind of nice actually," Kakashi admitted as he peered into the cup of green tea on the table in front of him. He liked being in his sensei's house, it made him feel like he had a home to return to, not just a drab little apartment and a potted plant.

It wasn't actually _his_ home though, and he was more than aware that he had a tendency to outstay his welcome whenever he came to visit. Not that the Hokage would ever say anything. Like now for instance, when it was obvious that the man was tired after a long day and he would want to read over the scrolls Kakashi had found for him before he went to bed, but Kakashi was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and was loath to leave.

"You should take better care of yourself Kakashi-kun," the Hokage chastised him as he wandered around the table to cast fleeting glances at the scrolls resting there, "you creak like an old man sometimes."

"You're one to talk," Kakashi taunted. He could see his sensei frowning at the scrolls, and he knew that that was his cue to leave and let the man work in peace, but he really didn't want to. The Hokage's house was warm and colourful, and there were little pieces of Naruto dotted all over the place; from the pictures on the fridge to the bright orange clothes neatly folded on the chair, and the scribbles on the wall that Kakashi knew Naruto had gotten into heaps of trouble over.

"Are you trying to say that I'm past it?" the Hokage pouted at him, and Kakashi chuckled.

"Brat," the Hokage sniffed, "at least my hair hasn't gone grey yet."

"Hey," Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "I was born this way."

"I know, and what a tragedy that is," the Hokage placed his hand over his heart and sighed.

"You're evil sensei," Kakashi informed him as he rolled his shoulders and tapped the side of his teacup. He really should leave. The Hokage would never come out and tell him to go, so it was up to Kakashi to take the initiative. But his sensei and Naruto were the only real family that he had, and he despised the fact that he had to steal time with them whenever he could. He always felt as though he was intruding, like he was tainting their perfect little family by just hanging around like some lost puppy.

"What am I going to do with you?" the Hokage sighed in exasperation. Kakashi blinked in surprise when he felt his teacher's hands drop onto his shoulders, he hadn't even noticed the man move around the table.

He groaned loudly when the Hokage began to knead the tension out of his shoulders, and then blushed hotly when the sound he had made registered in his mind. But he couldn't hold onto his embarrassment with his teacher's hands unknotting his neck, he wanted to melt into a puddle right there on the kitchen floor, it felt like his bones had turned to mush.

"Kakashi," the Hokage cried softly, "you're as tense as piano wire!"

"Meh," Kakashi let his head drop forwards and his eyes fall shut, "unlike some people, I actually work for a living."

The Hokage cuffed him over the ear before he went back to the massage, "cheeky brat."

Kakashi chuckled softly and sighed. He hadn't realised how tense his shoulders had been until his ex-teacher had taken it upon himself to smooth out the knots there. He just wanted to flop over the table and fall asleep under the Hokage's hands, but something else woke up inside him when his sensei began to rub small circles into his neck, and a blush settled into his face due to something entirely different from embarrassment.

He shivered despite himself. There was a lazy sort of excitement skipping for joy in his stomach. He really needed to leave now, because it wasn't right to let the man touch him like that when he had no idea what it did to Kakashi.

"Are you cold?" the Hokage asked suddenly, and Kakashi could hear the frown in his voice.

"Huh?" Kakashi swallowed thickly.

"You shivered," the Hokage said, "you aren't getting sick are you? You've been eating properly right?"

Kakashi smiled at the man's concern and at his own stupid fantasies, "I'm fine sensei," he replied, "but uh..."

The Hokage's hands fell away from his neck when he straightened himself to his feet, "I should get going."

He pushed the chair under the table and tried to will the flush out of his face before he turned around to face his teacher. The Hokage frowned at him.

"You haven't finished your tea."

Kakashi pulled his mask back up and smiled at the man. He hoped that with the mask covering his face the Hokage wouldn't see how strained his smile was.

"Sorry," he replied, "but I'm kind of tired."

The Hokage nodded suddenly, "oh, of course. You should go and get some rest then. You really do need to start taking better care of yourself Kakashi-kun."

"I am taking care of myself sensei," Kakashi replied as he moved towards the hallway.

"Hmm," the Hokage hummed in disbelief as he followed Kakashi towards the door and watched him slip his shoes back on, "you'll end up turning me just as grey as you are."

"Yeah, but the colour wont suit you as much as it does me," Kakashi smiled as he pulled the door open.

The Hokage grinned, "no, I don't suppose it will."

Kakashi paused in the doorway. He didn't want to go out into the cold and return to his lonely little apartment. But he had no right to stay either.

"Goodbye sensei."

"Goodnight Kakashi."

oO0Oo

Naruto twisted himself around on the swing and grinned over to Sakura. The pink haired girl scowled at him and turned away, flicking her hair.

"Would you like a riceball Naruto?" Chouji asked, holding out his hand to offer Naruto the triangular shaped treat, "my mum made them."

Naruto grinned and took the gift, studying the plum that was sitting in the middle, "Chouji," Naruto called before the boy could turn away, "what's it like? Having a mum?"

Chouji looked confused for a moment; his eyebrows furrowed in thought, "I don't know," he admitted, "I've never not had a mum, so I can't say."

"It's troublesome," came a drawling voice from the other side of the tree, "they nag all the time, and make you tidy your room."

"Yeah, but my _dad_ makes me tidy my room," Naruto pondered.

"They cook for you," Chouji tried, "and help you with your homework."

"My dad does that too," Naruto replied pitifully.

"Well if your dad does all that stuff," Shikamaru strolled around the tree, "what does it matter?"

Naruto shrugged and tried to shove the entire riceball into his mouth in one go.

"You're dad can't be your mum at the same time," Chouji said.

"But I don't have a mum," Naruto mumbled around his mouthful, "I just have my dad and Kakashi."

"Yeah, but Kakashi's not your family," Shikamaru sighed as he sank down to the ground to lean against the tree in the shade.

"Yes he is!" Naruto cried heatedly, "he looks after me when my dad's busy."

"Then he's your babysitter," Shikamaru replied.

"He plays with me and stuff," Naruto continued, "and he brings me things back from his missions, and he reads me stories and buys me ramen when I'm upset, and he gives me medicine when I get sick and yells at people who are mean to me, and... all kinds of stuff."

Shikamaru was giving him a strange look. Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably and frowned at the ground.

"What are you idiots doing over here?" Sasuke moved gracefully into the shade of the tree and smirked at Naruto.

"Naruto was telling us about how Kakashi is his mum," Shikamaru replied.

"What?" Naruto squawked, "no I wasn't! Kakashi can't be my mum! He's a guy!"

"So?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto goggled at him.

"Yeah, why can't Kakashi be your mum Naruto?" Chouji smiled, "my cousin doesn't have a dad, but she kind of has two mums, so isn't it sort of the same thing?"

"Yeah but..." Naruto chewed his lip and looked back at the ground, "even if... even if he was sort of like... like a mum... he doesn't live with us or anything, and he and my dad aren't... you know. Aren't mums and dads supposed to kiss and stuff?"

"My parents don't," Sasuke frowned.

"I can see what he means though," Shikamaru mused, "you want your dad and Kakashi to be like a real couple?"

Naruto went rigid. That wasn't what he had been saying! He couldn't imagine his dad and Kakashi... being all kissy and stuff! That was just... yuck!

But then he couldn't imagine his dad being kissy with anyone. In fact, just thinking about his dad doing that sort of stuff with anyone other than Kakashi made something hard and cold settle in the pit of his stomach.

"W-what if I did?" he asked Shikamaru suspiciously.

"Then you have to get them together," Shikamaru replied as he slouched further against the tree, "if they were a real couple then Kakashi would move in with you and your dad."

"He would?" Naruto asked, eyes wide.

Chouji nodded, "yeah, that's what adults do when they fall in love."

"But my dad already loves Kakashi," Naruto frowned, "he told me."

Shikamaru frowned over at him, "tsk, grown-ups. They're more trouble than they're worth."

"Then why doesn't he tell Kakashi?" Chouji asked.

"I don't know," Naruto admitted, "what should I do? I want Kakashi to come and live with us, but all my dad says is that he has his own home."

"You just need to get them to go on a date or something," Chouji replied.

"Hm?" Naruto looked up, "a date? What for?"

"That's what couples do before they move in together," Shikamaru explained, "everyone's parents will have been on dates before they started living together and had kids."

Chouji was nodding, and Sasuke was tilting his head in a way that meant 'I agree, but I'm not admitting to it.' Naruto scratched the back of his head absently.

"So," he began, "what sort of things do people do for dates?"

Chouji beamed, "don't worry Naruto, I'll help!"


	2. Part 2

Minato rotated his wrist and winced at the cracking noises that his bones made. He could no longer feel his fingers. After signing his name for the hundred millionth time, the words 'Namikaze Minato' no longer held any meaning for him.

No one had told him the being the Hokage could be so boring.

He glanced at the clock yet again and frowned. That clock had it in for him, he was sure. It would taunt him with its ticking, but when he looked up, only ten seconds would have passed.

He dropped the pen onto the desk and propped his chin up on his hand. Kakashi should have been back by now. He had only sent him on a simple courier mission. A shinobi of Kakashi's level could do the mission blindfolded and with his ankles tied together.

Wrong image. His back went rigid when his mind conjured up the image of Kakashi tied up and blindfolded somewhere dark and far away. It had only been a simple courier mission, but complications happened all the time. Kakashi had made quite a name for himself; he was famous, and his head would be worth a veritable fortune on the black market. He could have been attacked by rogue ninja or bounty hunters, or hunted down by some enemy that he had made over the years, or kidnapped or...

"Hokage-sama?" Inoichi rapped lightly on the slightly open door and peered inside, "Kakashi-san has..."

"Has what?" Minato yelped, on his feet suddenly.

Inoichi blinked in surprise, "...he's just returned, he's just out here if you'd like to..."

"Send him in," Minato breathed as he collapsed back into his chair. He was going senile, that was what it was. He was going to bypass the grey hair and scoot straight to dementia.

Entirely Kakashi's fault though.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted him as he kicked the door shut behind him, hands firmly in his pockets and his hair looking even more windswept than usual.

Minato couldn't help but smile across the desk at him. The sight of Kakashi always made him want to smile, he couldn't help it. No matter how annoyed or tired or down he felt, Kakashi could lift him back up again with just a lazy greeting and the curve of his eye.

And the brat had no idea. He had no inkling of how proud Minato was of him, no matter how often Minato told him. Kakashi had grown up into a wonderful young man, and Minato preened whenever he recalled that he had had rather a large part to play in that. Or at least, he liked to think he had.

"You're late," Minato informed him.

"Maa," Kakashi raised his arm and scratched the back of his head, "you see, there was this little girl who'd gotten lost in the woods while searching for her kitten and..."

Minato shook his head in wry amusement. His day had suddenly brightened up. Kakashi didn't seem to realise just how much Minato enjoyed spending time with him, but it was probably for the best. Kakashi had his own life, his own friends. He deserved his independence; Minato didn't want to take any of that away from him. But he still waited for Kakashi to drop by every day; he would always make enough tea for two people on the off chance that Kakashi would come over. Even though he knew he was being a fool, he always felt slightly disappointed when half of the tea went untouched. There used to be a time when Kakashi followed him everywhere. He couldn't shake the kid no matter how hard he tried. No one had warned him how much he would miss the constant presence at his back, like a second shadow, once that shadow grew up and they grew apart.

"Hey," Minato smiled happily, "Naruto asked me to invite you over for dinner tonight; I think he's planning to cook."

"Tonight?" Kakashi asked.

Minato schooled his features not to fall, he kept smiling even as he realised that Kakashi would probably have plans, plans that didn't involve his old teacher, a little boy, and the charcoal that Naruto would no doubt serve them for dinner.

"Don't worry if you have plans," he said, "it was just a suggestion."

"No, I don't have plans," Kakashi replied, "I'd love to come."

Minato beamed, "great!"

oO0Oo

Naruto pulled the door open and grinned at Chouji and Shikamaru.

"Quick, come in!" Naruto ushered them inside and bit his lips nervously as Chouji attempted to kick his shoes off while holding a massive bowl and a large covered platter.

"My mum made it all," he enthused as Naruto helped him manoeuvre into the kitchen, "she wouldn't let me cook anything when she found out that it was for the Hokage."

As though the mere mention of him had summoned him, Naruto's dad stuck his head around the doorway and grinned at them, "what's for dinner?"

Naruto pouted, "you can't look!" he cried, "it's a surprise! Go away!"

His dad's eyebrows rose, "I'm not leaving you lot alone in the kitchen."

"It's alright Hokage-sama," Chouji bowed, "I make things in our kitchen all the time."

Naruto's dad pursed his lips, "well, just don't touch the knives. Or the oven. Or anything at all without me here."

"Fine, fine," Naruto shoed him away, "we're just going to put the stuff on plates! Go get Kakashi!"

His dad chuckled as he was dismissed from the kitchen, "he'll be here in a few minutes, don't panic."

"A few minutes?" Naruto squawked, "but... Chouji!"

"It's alright Naruto," Chouji assured him as his dad disappeared into the next room, "everything's all ready, we heated it up before bringing it over so we just need bowls."

"What is it anyway?" Naruto asked as he dived into the cupboard for the plates and dishes.

"Teriyaki chicken and dumplings and ramen and…"

Naruto pulled his head back out of the cupboard, "ramen?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and pushed past Naruto to get the bowls.

"What kind?" Naruto jumped up and peered into the bowl of steaming ramen that Chouji had brought with him.

"Vegetable," Chouji beamed.

Naruto was almost drooling. He could just reach over for some chopsticks and tuck in. But the food wasn't for him, it was for his dad and Kakashi.

"Kakashi prefers miso ramen," Naruto bit his lip, he wanted everything to be perfect, "or eel."

"We could put some eel in it," Chouji suggested.

"We didn't bring any," Shikamaru said as he placed the bowls on the kitchen counter.

Naruto grinned and skidded towards the fridge, "we have eel!"

oO0Oo

Minato dropped the scroll he had just rolled up when he heard Naruto's ear piercing screech, but the only people he could sense in the house were Naruto, Chouji, Shikamaru, and now Kakashi who had let himself in moments ago. He smiled to himself and picked the scroll up from the floor.

"Apparently, I'm not allowed in the kitchen," Kakashi's voice floated into the study from the doorway.

Minato tossed the scroll to the top of the bookcase and turned towards Kakashi, "don't take it personally; I've been evicted from the kitchen too."

"It smells wonderful," Kakashi mused, glancing back over his shoulder, "whatever it is."

Minato nodded. The aromas wafting in from the kitchen did smell lovely, but then, Chouji had brought the food, and everyone in the village knew that the Akimichi clan were gods in the kitchen.

"Are Chouji and Shikamaru staying for dinner?" Kakashi asked as he wandered aimlessly into the room and hopped up to sit on the desk.

"I don't know," Minato frowned as he stuffed more scrolls into his swelling bookcase, "I don't think so. I'm sure Naruto would have asked if they could come over for dinner if that were the case."

When he turned back towards the desk, Kakashi was swinging his legs and his mask was pooled beneath his chin. He was staring at the pictures on the walls: mainly Naruto's handiwork. The sight made Minato smile with a pang of nostalgia. He doubted he had ever seen Kakashi swing his legs when he was a child. He also doubted that Kakashi had ever drawn such messy scribbles when he was a little boy either. When he was Naruto's age he was already drawing up mission plans and schematics. It made Minato painfully sad to think that his expression was far more youthful now than it had been when he was small.

He had the sudden urge to draw Kakashi into a hug. But it was nothing more than an indulgent desire, and Kakashi had never been particularly touchy feely; he would probably be horrified if Minato tried it.

"What?" Minato was shaken from his thoughts when Kakashi spoke. He had been staring and Kakashi was looking at him in curiosity, one eyebrow raised, "do I have something on my face or something?"

Minato shook his head and looked away, "sorry, I was just thinking."

"What about?"

Minato walked around the table and pulled himself up to sit next to Kakashi.

"About what a cute kid you were," Minato grinned.

Kakashi scowled, "I wasn't cute."

Minato laughed, "you were adorable Kakashi-kun!"

"You're teasing me," Kakashi pouted.

"I'm being serious!"

"Dad! Kakashi! Where are you?"

Minato rubbed his hands together and hopped off the desk, "thank the heavens! I'm starving."

"I'm not a kid anymore you know," Kakashi said quietly.

Minato turned back to Kakashi and frowned in concern, "I know that."

Kakashi sighed and slid off the edge of the desk, "do you?"

Minato's frown deepened. He could see a silent challenge written into Kakashi's face, but there was a sort of hope in his uncovered eye too, and Minato didn't know what to make of it.

"There you are!" Naruto barrelled into the room, "come on! The food's ready! Come on!"

oO0Oo

Naruto bounced on the spot when his dad and Kakashi stared at the table. Naruto had never felt more proud of himself. He had set the ramen right in the middle, since that was the best part of the meal, and his dad and Kakashi were looking at it like they were starving men in for a feast.

"Wow Naruto," Kakashi breathed, and Naruto puffed his chest out and beamed. This was a real date, with real food, and his dad could tell Kakashi that he loved him and then Kakashi could come and live with them. He carried on bouncing.

"Sit down," he took his dad's hand and tugged him towards the nearest chair.

His dad chuckled and ruffled his hair, "I'm impressed."

Naruto ducked past him and pulled Kakashi to the chair opposite his dad. Shikamaru had said that they were supposed to sit opposite each other. Naruto wasn't really sure if he was meant to stay or not. But the food looked delicious, and he had to make sure that everything went alright, he couldn't leave it to his dad and Kakashi because they would just mess it all up.

He jumped into the chair at the end of the table and poked Kakashi in the arm, "eat the ramen first! I helped make it!" Which was true, he had put the eel in.

Kakashi smiled at him as he lifted his bowl up to help himself, and Naruto stretched across for some teriyaki chicken. He wanted the ramen too, but he'd let Kakashi and his dad eat some first, it was their date after all.

"This is really good!" his dad slurred around a mouthful chicken.

"You sound surprised," Kakashi remarked, "I always knew Naruto would be a good cook."

"Oh really. Well I guess he takes after me then."

Kakashi snorted in amusement and Naruto's dad narrowed his eyes at him.

"You trying to say I can't cook?" he pouted.

Kakashi shook his head, "I'm not _trying_ to say anything," he said, "I'm _telling_ you, you can't cook."

Naruto was moving through the teriyaki as breakneck speed, only listening to the conversation with half an ear, when a sudden silence made him pause in his chewing and look up.

"Are you alright?" his dad asked, frowning at Kakashi.

Kakashi placed a hand over his mouth and shook his head slowly.

Naruto hastily swallowed his mouthful and leant closer to Kakashi. It looked like he was turning green.

His dad put his chopsticks down, "do you need to..."

Kakashi was up and out of the room before he could finish his sentence. Naruto's stomach dropped.

His dad looked at him seriously, "Naruto, what was in the ramen?"

"Vegetables and eel," he replied in a small voice.

His dad frowned, and looked towards the doorway that led to the kitchen, "Naruto, where did... please tell me you didn't use the eel from the fridge."

Naruto swallowed hard. He cringed on the inside when he heard Kakashi throw up in the bathroom. He nodded unhappily, and felt very close to tears when his dad leapt up from his seat and vanished into the hallway after Kakashi.

Naruto slowly slid out of his chair and hovered in the dining room as Kakashi continued to be sick. He was starting to feel a little ill himself, but it had nothing to do with the food. He had made Kakashi throw up, it was all his fault. The date was ruined and Kakashi wasn't well.

He bit his lip and shifted from one foot to the other nervously, not knowing what to do. He wanted to burst into tears, but he just sniffled softly and picked up the bowl of ramen so that he could throw it away before it made anyone else sick.

He tiptoed up the stairs when he had dumped the ramen in the bin, and crept towards the bathroom doorway so that he could peer around the edge of the doorframe.

Kakashi was bent over the toilet bowl. Naruto's dad was kneeling next to him and combing his hair back from his face. He looked up as Naruto poked his head around the doorway and smiled kindly.

"Don't worry Naruto," his dad said softly, "it was my fault; I should have thrown the eel away ages ago."

Right on cue Kakashi heaved again. Naruto's dad grimaced and started rubbing circles into his back.

"I-is he going to be okay?" Naruto stammered.

Kakashi wiped his mouth and looked over his shoulder.

"I'm fine Naruto," he gave Naruto a wobbly smile, he looked exceedingly pale, paler than usual, "but I think maybe I should go home."

Naruto's dad shook his head, "no, you can stay here for the night; I'll make the spare bed."

Kakashi opened his mouth to reply, when his face fell suddenly and he dived back over the toilet bowl to throw up some more.

Naruto shuffled away from the door, "I'm just going to put myself to bed," he whispered.

His dad looked back towards him and smiled again, "I'll come and tuck you in in a minute, okay?"

Naruto nodded and then ran down the hallway, diving into his room and burying himself under the covers of his bed, not even bothering to get changed into his pyjamas first.

He sniffed loudly as he pressed his face into the pillow. He had wrecked everything. All he had wanted was for Kakashi to come and live with them and he had made him sick instead. He had never felt so guilty about anything before. He curled up into a ball and vowed that he would make it up to Kakashi somehow.

oO0Oo

Minato winced when Kakashi retched again. Minato tugged the hitai-ate from Kakashi's head and smoothed his hair back from his face. His skin had turned grey and clammy and Minato wanted nothing more than to wrap him up and hold him.

"Ugh," Kakashi spat, "is Naruto alright?"

Minato smiled, "he didn't eat any of the ramen."

"That wasn't what I meant," Kakashi replied.

"I know," Minato admitted as he ran his fingers through Kakashi's hair. His heart expanded in his chest when he though of how awful Kakashi looked and how he was thinking of Naruto instead of himself.

"Would you like some water?" he asked.

Kakashi turned his head to look at him. The Sharingan was spinning sluggishly and both of his eyes were wet.

"That would be nice," Kakashi choked out.

"Wait here," Minato pushed himself to his feet, "I'll be right back."

"Not going anywh..."

Minato bit his lip when Kakashi vomited into the toilet bowl again, and he was in the kitchen in a flash, pouring water into a glass and rushing back up the stairs before Kakashi had finished spilling the contents of his stomach into the toilet.

"Here you go," Minato sat down beside Kakashi and held the glass out, "are you feeling any better?"

Kakashi took the glass and sipped gingerly before he took a deep breath and sagged against the toilet, "yeah. Peachy."

Minato smirked, "brat," he couldn't be feeling so terrible if he was being sarcastic.

"You should go and check on Naruto," Kakashi sighed as he closed his eyes, placing the glass on the floor near his knee.

Minato nodded, "in a minute, I want to make sure you aren't about to drop dead on me."

Kakashi chuckled pitifully, eyes still closed, "don't be silly sensei."

Minato reached behind him for a towel and wiped the tears away from Kakashi's cheek. He should have thrown that eel away, there was stuff in his fridge that was ready to claim sentience and form its own government. He ached in sympathy as he wiped the towel over Kakashi forehead.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "I should have made sure that the food was edible."

Kakashi blinked two bleary eyes open, "it's fine. I've lived through worse."

Minato smiled sadly and put the towel down, "I'm going to go and see to Naruto. Will you be okay by yourself for a little while."

Kakashi didn't respond, he merely waved Minato away and closed his eyes again, as though he was going to go to sleep leaning over the toilet bowl. Minato's knees cracked as he stood up, and he glanced back over his shoulder at Kakashi before he hurried into the hallway.

He picked up the pace when he heard soft sniffling coming from Naruto's room.

When he opened the door, all he could see was a lump under the covers, shaking slightly and sniffling into the pillow.

"Naruto?" he called as he crossed the room and sat down on the side of the bed, "hey, come on, what are you crying for?"

He rubbed what he assumed was Naruto's back through the bright orange covers and frowned when Naruto just sniffed harder. There was nothing worse than listening to his little boy cry, he would rip out hearts to stop Naruto from crying.

"I m-made Kakashi sick," Naruto sobbed.

Minato leant over and wrapped himself around the lump under the covers.

"It wasn't your fault," he soothed, "it was my fault, how were you meant to know that the eel was bad? It's my job to get rid of the out of date stuff in the fridge."

Naruto continued to sniff, "is he okay?"

Minato tightened his arms around the lump and smiled, "he's fine. He just needs to go to bed and sleep. He'll be as bright as a button in the morning."

The orange lump wriggled, and Minato tried pulling the covers down a little so that he could look into Naruto's tear streaked face.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said.

"You don't have to be sorry," Minato replied as he kissed Naruto on the tip of his nose, "what you did was really nice. The food looked amazing. Kakashi and I were really impressed."

"But I poisoned him!" Naruto wailed.

"He's not poisoned," Minato pulled the covers away and wiped Naruto's cheeks, "he's just a bit ill."

"Does Kakashi hate me now?" Naruto asked, with wide desperate eyes that hurt to look at.

"Of course not," Minato told him, "Kakashi could never hate you, he loves you to pieces."

Naruto sat up and rubbed his eyes, "can I go and say sorry?"

Minato listened to the faint sound of Kakashi heaving again and winced, "not right now, eh? Let's get you changed into your pyjamas and tucked in, and then I can do the same with Kakashi so that he can get some sleep. Yeah?"

Naruto nodded, still sniffing occasionally as Minato fetched his pyjamas from where they were scattered on the floor; he tugged Naruto out of his clothes and pulled his arms through his pyjama top.

"I still can't find the g-grey crayon," Naruto pouted as Minato pulled his pyjama bottoms the right way out.

"Huh?" Minato held the pyjama bottoms out to Naruto, "the what?"

"The grey crayon!" Naruto cried unhappily, "I c-can't finish the picture without it!"

"Okay, okay," Minato placated him before the tears could start falling again, "I'll get you a new one alright?"

Naruto pouted and pulled on his pyjama bottoms, "but it has to be exactly the right colour," he said, "like the last one was."

"I'll find you a hundred grey crayons that are exactly the right colour," Minato promised, "now give me a smile."

Naruto sniffed one last time, and then gave Minato a small watery smile. Minato couldn't help himself, he grabbed the boy and smooshed him into a hug, kissing every hair on his head that he could get to.

"Nnugh, dad!" Naruto wailed as he tried to wriggle out of his dad's hold, "let go!"

Minato chuckled and let him go, ushering him into bed and folding the covers snugly around him.

"No more crying," he said, "okay?"

Naruto nodded from the cocoon Minato had made for him.

"Good," he kissed Naruto's forehead and grinned, "go to sleep."

Naruto wriggled into a more comfortable position, "night."

Minato crept out of the room and slid the door shut. One down, one more to go. He shot into the spare room and made the bed in a fraction of a second, nothing but a yellow blur in the sparse room, and then he dashed to his own room and for something for Kakashi to sleep in.

When he walked back into the bathroom, a spare t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants held loosely in his hand, Kakashi was asleep over the toilet bowl.

"I knew it," he sighed fondly as he leant over Kakashi.

Kakashi made a sleepy little noise that was far too cute to be legal when Minato gently shook his shoulder.

"Come on," Minato whispered, "time for bed."

He held onto Kakashi's arm as he stood up, and led him carefully down the hallway and into the spare room.

"I'm fine," Kakashi rasped, "stop babying me sensei."

"Put these on," Minato dropped the spare clothes onto the bed and carefully pushed Kakashi down into a sitting position beside them, "how do you feel?"

"I'm fine," Kakashi replied, but his skin looked too clammy for him to feel fine, and his voice sounded awful. Minato's heart clenched.

"I'll go get your water," he said, "are you going to be sick again? Because I can find you something to be sick into if you..."

"I'm fine," Kakashi sighed as he rubbed his eyes sleepily.

Minato nodded and headed back into the hallway. He was feeling slightly exhausted himself. But he was smiling as he retrieved the glass of water and moved back down the hallway, past Naruto's room, then his own room, and finally to Kakashi. Despite all of the excitement, he felt surprisingly content.

Could have been the fact that he had his entire family under the same roof. It was a pity about the circumstances.

He froze in the doorway as Kakashi tugged his shirt over his head. He only remembered that he had a glass of water in his hand when he nearly dropped it. Kakashi's skin was creamy white, with patterns of silver where his scars danced over him. He looked like he had been sculpted out of marble, and he wondered why Kakashi would ever think that Minato still thought of him as a kid, because the creature before him was definitely not a child.

Minato's mouth went rather dry when Kakashi lifted up the t-shirt and pulled it over his head. The muscles of his abdomen stretched taut when he raised his arms to slip the t-shirt over him, and then that expanse of pale skin was covered beneath faded fabric.

"Here," Minato cleared his throat and strode towards the bedside table, "I'll put the glass here, okay?"

"Mm," was the only sound Kakashi made in response.

"Right," Minato turned around and his heart almost gave out. Kakashi was on his feet and was carefully pushing his pants over his hips, "I'll just... leave so that you can... um... goodnight Kakashi."

Minato had never moved so fast in his life. And that was saying something. His heart was hammering wildly against his ribcage and he felt mildly disgusted with himself. He had absolutely no right to look at Kakashi like that. He couldn't even begin to imagine how Kakashi would feel if he knew.

Minato shook himself and closed the door to his bedroom. He wouldn't look at Kakashi like that anymore. He wouldn't let himself.

But how many times had he told himself exactly the same thing in the past?

oO0Oo

Kakashi didn't know what had woken him. There had been some noise, somewhere, but he was feeling far too sluggish to concentrate on it. He was feeling remarkably better, but he could still taste bile in the back of his throat, and the muscles of his stomach ached.

But he could smell his teacher everywhere, with each breath the man was there and it was incredibly soothing. It took a moment for Kakashi to realise that it was his clothes, he was dressed in one of his sensei's old t-shirts and it smelled just like him. He sighed deeply and burrowed further into the covers, smiling.

He sprang into a sitting position, far more alert, when the door opened. But he relaxed when his eyes adjusted to the figure cowering in the doorway.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" he asked around a yawn.

Naruto shuffled hesitantly into the room, "are you feeling better?"

Kakashi smiled, "much. Are you okay?"

Naruto nodded and crept closer, "I'm really sorry about the ramen."

"It wasn't your fault," Kakashi ran his hand absently over his stomach, "I blame your dad, he's always trying to poison me with mouldy food."

"He is?" Naruto's eyes went wide.

Kakashi nodded, "when I was younger he used to experiment on me with all kinds of dishes," he chuckled, "I was throwing up every other week."

Naruto giggled nervously.

"Come over here," Kakashi beckoned and pulled the covers back for Naruto to clamber in.

"I only wanted to do something nice," Naruto said softly as he squirmed his way closer to Kakashi.

"It _was _nice," Kakashi replied as he rearranged the covers over them.

"But it made you sick," Naruto complained.

"I'm not sick anymore though," Kakashi assured him as he settled down next to the snuggling blond.

"Next time, I won't use eel," Naruto promised.

Kakashi chuckled as Naruto grabbed his t-shirt and wormed his way closer, "next time, tell your dad to clear out the fridge first."

Naruto nodded against Kakashi's chest. The boy was like a ball of heat settled next to him, and Kakashi petted his hair for a moment before he sighed in contentment and draped his arm over Naruto. He was glad he hadn't gone back to his apartment; he much preferred sleeping in his teacher's house, with those who were important to him just down the hallway. And he couldn't even describe what it felt like to have Naruto clinging to him as he fell asleep; he just knew that it would be that much more difficult to go home to an empty apartment in the morning.


	3. Part 3

"Hey," Shikamaru waved when he strolled over to where Naruto was sulking under the picnic table, "so how did the date go?"

"I poisoned Kakashi," Naruto wailed.

Shikamaru's eyes went wide, and then Naruto knew that he had done something terrible because he had never seen Shikamaru look anything other than bored.

"Wow," the boy said, "you blew it then?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Naruto cried.

"Aren't you going to try again?" Shikamaru asked as he plopped himself down next to Naruto.

Naruto shook his head, "no."

"Scaredy cat."

Naruto growled and poked his head out from beneath the table so that he could glare up at Sasuke who was lounging on the top of it.

"Shut up!"

"You won't try again because you're scared," Sasuke said simply.

"It's alright for you to say that!" Naruto yelled, "your parents already live together and everything!"

"Moron," Sasuke twisted and jumped down from on top of the table, "just try again."

"And what am I supposed to do next? Huh?" Naruto demanded to know.

"What are you yelling at Sasuke-kun for Naruto?" Sakura bellowed as she marched towards them.

Naruto scowled at Sasuke and returned to hiding beneath the picnic table.

"Naruto set up his dad and Kakashi on a date," Shikamaru informed Sakura and Ino when they came to a halt on either side of Sasuke.

"Huh?" Sakura was momentarily shaken from her adoration of Sasuke with the mention of romance, "date? What are you talking about?"

"The idiot poisoned his mum," Sasuke smirked.

"He's not my mum!"

"He wants his dad and Kakashi to get together," Shikamaru said, "but the date he set them up on didn't work out well."

"What kind of date did you send them on?" Ino asked, stepping away from Sasuke to peer at Naruto under the table.

"Chouji and Shikamaru and me made them food," he pouted, "and it made Kakashi sick."

"Ch, figures," Ino placed her hands on her hips, "if you want to know about romance, you don't go to Chouji and Shikamaru."

Naruto frowned up at her, "well what would you do then?"

Ino's grin became slightly frightening, "you really want to know?"

oO0Oo

Kakashi appeared in his apartment in a swirl of leaves, and went very, very still.

"What the..." he took a single step forward and then froze.

He sneezed inside his mask. Loudly.

"Oh, yuck," he whined, right before he sneezed again. It was then that he peered at the countless flowers camouflaging his apartment more carefully.

"Oh no," he hissed, "orchids."

A _lot_ of orchids. One or two he could handle, but an entire room full... even with the mask he could feel his throat constricting. His eyes were watering like there was no tomorrow and itching terribly, but he knew that if he rubbed them that they'd just sting even worse. He pressed forward, searching for the door, when he knocked over one of the mammoth bouquets, and the angry sound of buzzing filled the air.

"OW!" he blinked down at his arm, but he couldn't see anything through the water in his eyes. After another sneeze he screwed his eyes shut, held his breath, and vanished in a swirl of smoke.

He managed to stagger into the Hokage's house despite the sneezing and the fact that he couldn't see. He spared a self deprecating moment to wonder why he always seemed to run to his teacher whenever something like this happened. He should really try letting go of the man, the Hokage didn't owe him anything. He probably thought of Kakashi as a nuisance. But he couldn't think of anywhere else to go, he was technically blinded and he didn't want to sit on the roof of his apartment to wait for the allergic reaction so subside.

"Kakashi?" he heard the man call out, "what on earth... what happened to you?"

"Orchids," Kakashi yanked his mask down and sneezed again, "do you have any tissues?"

There was incredulous silence for a moment, before he heard the Hokage move around and then press something soft into his hand. He sneezed into the tissue, relieved by the fact that the urge to sneeze was becoming less insistent now.

"Come on," there was a firm hand on his shoulder, guiding him further into the house, and Kakashi suddenly felt embarrassed about the state he was in.

"What happened?" the Hokage asked as Kakashi was manoeuvred onto the couch, "you said something about orchids?"

Kakashi blinked and wiped his eyes, "my apartment is full of them."

"Why?" his sensei asked, "you're allergic to them."

"I know that," Kakashi snapped irritably, "I don't know who left them, but there were hundreds. And a bee!"

"Huh?" the Hokage frowned.

Kakashi held his arm out and indicated the large red lump that was swelling on his forearm.

"Oh," the Hokage chuckled.

"Are you laughing at me?" Kakashi pouted.

"Wait here," his teacher sighed. Kakashi snatched up some more tissues from the box that the Hokage had left on the couch next to him and wiped his eyes angrily. He was even angrier with the way he was behaving, like a petulant child who expected his teacher to fix everything. He didn't even know what he was doing in the man's house, he was being childish.

"Right," the Hokage said determinedly as he strode back in, holding some cotton wool and a bottle of something that smelled like vinegar, "give me your arm."

Kakashi watched as the man perched himself on the coffee table in front of him and gently took his wrist into his hand. He pushed the sleeve of Kakashi's top further up his arm to get a better look at the vivid red swelling there and winced in sympathy.

"Who on earth would fill your apartment with orchids?" he asked.

"I don't know," Kakashi replied, and then sneezed again, "someone who doesn't like me much."

If Kakashi didn't know better, he would say that the Hokage looked upset about something. But he was blinking at him through bleary eyes, and after a moment the expression faded to a cheerful smile.

"Maybe you have a secret admirer," he teased.

"Shut up sensei."

The Hokage chuckled and held Kakashi's hand loosely in his own while he pressed the cotton wool to Kakashi's arm. It had been soaked in vinegar and Kakashi hissed when it first touched his skin.

"Sensei," Kakashi said softly, "I'm sorry for bothering you with this."

The Hokage looked up from Kakashi's arm and goggled at him, "sorry? You don't have to be sorry Kakashi-kun. When you were a kid you would have suffered by yourself, I'm glad that you can come to me with stuff like this now."

Kakashi frowned. He wasn't a child anymore. But his teacher would always look back upon the time when he was, and no matter what he did he would never be able to make the man look at him as anything other than 'Kakashi-kun' the little boy he used to teach. It was frustrating beyond belief, he just wanted to kick the man and make him _see_ him.

He jumped slightly when the Hokage ran his thumb lightly over Kakashi's knuckles, holding his hand almost tenderly while he pressed the cotton wool against his arm. Kakashi stared at their hands and just _longed_ for a moment, before he squeezed his teacher's hand gently.

The Hokage looked up into his face and squeezed back, with a smile that almost seemed sad.

oO0Oo

"Dad!" Naruto called when he swung into his house and kicked his shoes off, "guess what! Sakura-chan played with me all day! She let me braid her hair, but I couldn't do it properly so she hit me, and Ino did it for her, but then we ate some dango and..."

Naruto came to a halt in the doorway and frowned at the scene before him. Kakashi waved, a tissue held firmly in his hand.

Naruto's dad was holding Kakashi's wrist gently and dabbing something that smelled like vinegar onto his arm.

"Kakashi, what's the matter?" Naruto asked in horror. His eyes were all red and puffy, he looked like he had been crying. He hadn't been crying had he? Kakashi never cried! Who had made him cry? Naruto would pound them into the ground!

"He just had an allergic reaction Naruto," his dad smiled at him over his shoulder.

"A what?" Naruto asked as he clambered onto the couch beside Kakashi and watched in sympathy as his dad dabbed that vinegary stuff at a swollen red lump on Kakashi's forearm.

"Someone left bunches of orchids in my apartment," Kakashi explained, his words muffled through the tissue, "there were _loads_ of them, and in such a small space so even my mask didn't help."

Naruto's lip had started to wobble. He bit it.

"And he got stung by a bee," his dad told him, "it was hiding in one of the bouquets apparently."

"Hurt like a bitch," Kakashi muttered.

Naruto's dad whacked Kakashi upside the head, "language," he warned, "and don't be a baby. You're a war hardened shinobi; you've lived through far worse than a bee sting."

"Will you be okay?" Naruto asked. Something in his voice must have given him away; he was so incredibly close to tears he didn't know how he had managed to stop any from falling, and both his dad and Kakashi turned their full attention to him.

"Hey, Naruto," his dad leant closer to him and rubbed his head gently, "what's the matter?"

Naruto sniffed. He really didn't want to cry in front of his dad and Kakashi, but his dad was looking at him with so much concern, and Kakashi had wrapped his arm, the one with the bee sting, around his shoulders and was rubbing his arm affectionately. He couldn't do anything right, he had made Kakashi sick with the eel, and he had done it again with the flowers. Kakashi had forgiven him for the eel, but if he found out it was him who had sent the flowers than he probably wouldn't speak to him again, and he had said that the bee sting had really hurt and hurting Kakashi was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Hey, I lied you know," Kakashi confided, "it didn't hurt at all; I was just trying to get some sympathy out of you."

Naruto couldn't hold his tears in any longer, he wrapped his arms tightly around Kakashi's neck and sniffled loudly against him.

"Not this much sympathy though," Kakashi said in alarm. Naruto felt Kakashi wrap his arms around him and hug him tightly, and his dad climbed onto the couch next to him and kissed the back of his head.

"Come on kiddo," his dad soothed, "tell us what the matter is."

Naruto hiccoughed, "you g-got stung..."

Kakashi chuckled against the top of his head and hugged him tighter.

Naruto wriggled further into Kakashi's arms, and even though he felt so utterly guilty, it felt really nice to have his dad and Kakashi shushing him softly and hugging him.

"What are you going to do about your apartment?" Naruto heard his dad ask quietly when Naruto had finally quietened down.

"I'll ask Gai to get rid of the flowers for me," Kakashi replied, still rubbing Naruto's back, "but I have no idea where they came from in the first place."

"Mm," his dad shifted slightly in his seat, "like I said, maybe you have a secret admirer."

Naruto frowned at the tone of his dad's voice. He sounded like he was sulking slightly; he had never heard his dad sound like that before.

Kakashi chuckled, "yeah, I wish. It was probably someone with a grudge against me. Who else would send me flowers that I'm allergic to?"

Naruto bit his lip in worry. Everything he did ended in disaster. He should just forget the whole thing.

oO0Oo

"You stupid idiot!" Ino screamed as she kicked out at Naruto, "why didn't you tell me that he was allergic to orchids?"

"I didn't know!" Naruto protested, "it's not just my fault! There was a bee in those flowers and it stung him!"

"Are you trying to blame me for this?" Ino screeched.

Sasuke was rolling his eyes and doing his best to ignore them, while Shikamaru dozed upon the grass and Chouji watched the entertainment while munching on a bag of chips.

"I don't care any more!" Naruto yelled, "I give in!"

"So you're giving up this time?" Sasuke sneered, "I knew you were a scaredy cat."

"Shut up!" Naruto pointed into the Uchiha's face and snarled, "everything I do ends up making Kakashi sick or something! I've tried everything! I'm not doing anything else!"

"You haven't tried everything," Sasuke replied.

"Well what else can I do?" Naruto huffed and flopped angrily onto the grass, "I can't think of anything else."

"That's because you're stupid," Sasuke said, "just lock them in a cupboard together or something."

"No, I..." Naruto paused, "would that work?"

"No," Shikamaru interrupted, earning himself a glare from Sasuke, "you can't do that. Your dad's the Hokage; you can't lock the Hokage up for any length of time, what if he's needed?"

Naruto folded his arms and stuck his tongue out at Sasuke.

"Oi!"

All of the heads in the area swivelled around to look at Kiba as he marched towards them.

"Naruto!" the Inuzuka boy yelled, "is it true? Is your dad gay?"

"Huh?"Naruto climbed to his feet and glared at the other boy, "what do you mean?"

Kiba stopped in front of him and shrugged, smiling, "nothing, I was just asking. Hinata said that he's going out with that old guy with the mask."

"Kakashi's not old!" Naruto yelled.

"But is he going out with your dad?" Kiba asked.

Naruto huffed and dropped back onto the grass.

"We're working on it," Ino snapped.

"What does that mean?" Kiba frowned.

"It means that Naruto wants Kakashi to be his mum," Chouji explained.

Naruto pouted and glared at Chouji. He didn't want Kakashi to be his actual mum, he just wanted Kakashi to live with them so that they could be a proper family.

"But nothing is working," Shikamaru sighed.

"Naruto keeps screwing up," Sasuke smirked.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled as he crossed his arms over his chest, "it's not my fault!"

Kiba gave them all a puzzled frown and crossed his arms, "how can he be your mum? He's a man!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes angrily, "I don't care! I just want him to go on a proper date with my dad so that he can move in with us!"

A sly grin spread slowly over Kiba's face, "a date huh?" He dropped onto the grass beside Naruto and chuckled, "in that case, I know exactly what you need."


	4. Part 4

Minato groaned when he heard the door to his office open. He daren't look up, in case it was another chuunin with another stack of files for him to sort through.

His aversion to paperwork had finally caught up to him. He had invented numerous ways to escape paperwork, he had even channelled his vast genius into devising anti-paperwork jutsus, but the fact remained that the paperwork never just vanished, it was simply hidden away for a while, until he was attacked with the backlog all at once.

"Just put it… over there," he sighed, waving his hand vaguely and scowling at the overview of the village's financial output for the year. He blinked in surprise when a cup of steaming coffee was placed on the desk in front of him.

He didn't bother to look up at Kakashi, he simply scooped the cup up with both hands and gulped down half of its contents, with his eyes closed in bliss.

"Ah, I love you," he whispered as the scalding beverage burnt holes in his insides.

"Are you talking to me or the coffee?" Kakashi asked.

"The coffee, of course," Minato grinned as he opened his eyes, "thank you, I needed that."

Kakashi chuckled softly. Minato's spirits lifted slightly, but he wasn't sure if that was due to the coffee or the company.

"Do you want some help?" Kakashi asked, eyeing the stacks of paperwork with a sympathetic expression.

Minato sighed. He should say no, because he already had his entire staff helping him, and even if Kakashi joined in he would still need to look over everything himself. It would be pointless for Kakashi to stay.

"You wouldn't mind?" he asked.

"Of course I wouldn't sensei," Kakashi said, as though it should be obvious.

He felt guilty then, because Kakashi looked so eager to help, when really he would be no help at all. But Minato seemed to crave the young man's company. He missed Kakashi, which was foolish since he saw him almost every day. But it was never enough. The two of them had been inseparable at one point, but now he was almost afraid that he was losing Kakashi, that one day they would be practically strangers, only speaking when it came to missions. He was terrified that one day he would wake up and not be able to remember the last time Kakashi laughed, or scowled, or pouted, or looked at him like he'd grown an extra head. He didn't know what he would do if Kakashi stopped indulging Minato with his company, so Minato was determined to dig his heels in and keep hold of him for as long as he could.

"You know," Minato placed his cup on his desk, "you don't have to call me 'sensei' anymore. I haven't been your teacher for years."

Kakashi's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. Minato held his breath, because he liked to think that Kakashi considered him a friend, not just someone who used to teach him.

"What should I call you then?" Kakashi asked, "Hokage-sama?"

"No!" Minato scowled, "don't you dare. Just call me by my name."

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, "wouldn't that be… weird?"

Minato sighed. He could see how uncomfortable Kakashi looked with just the suggestion, and it disappointed Minato more than he thought it would. Maybe Kakashi really did just think of him as his old teacher.

"Heh… I guess," he quirked his lips into a smile, "it was just a suggestion."

"Hokage-sama?" one of the chuunin on his staff poked her head around the door and Minato squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will away the paperwork that she was no doubt bringing with her, "the Academy have contacted us, they want to know if anyone is going to collect Naruto-chan."

Minato knocked over the closest stack of files when he stood up. He felt sick. He had _forgotten_ about his son.

"Oh my god!" he cried, startling the chuunin in the doorway enough to make her hit her head on the doorframe, "what time is it? How long…"

"Sensei," he stilled automatically when he felt Kakashi's hand on his arm, "I'll get him, I'm sure he's fine."

Minato turned to face him, "I should have checked the time… tell him I'm sorry, I'll make it up to him…"

"Stop panicking sensei," Kakashi smiled, "I'll tell him."

Minato swallowed the lump in his throat. He had never forgotten about Naruto before. Never. If he found out that he wouldn't be able to collect Naruto he would always make arrangements for someone else to go and get him. He had even had one of the Academy teachers bring Naruto to his office before now when he wasn't able to leave to pick him up, one of the perks of being the Hokage. But he had never just _forgotten_.

"I won't be long," he said as Kakashi strode towards the door, "I'll only be a couple of hours, I promise."

oO0Oo

Naruto scuffed his heel against the dirt and turned himself around and around on the swing, twisting the ropes together above him.

"I'm sure he just got sidetracked," Iruka-sensei said kindly, smiling, "he must be very busy. The Hokage has to be responsible for the whole village so…"

"I know," Naruto pouted, "it doesn't matter." He wrapped his fingers around the ropes and lifted his feet off the ground. The swing spun around, turning the world around him into nothing but a blur of colour as the ropes untwisted and jerked back into their rightful place.

He saw Iruka-sensei check his watch and glance around. He probably wanted to go home, not wait with Naruto until his dad came to get him. Naruto felt very lonely all of a sudden.

"You can go home Iruka-sensei," he said quietly, "I can wait by myself."

"Don't be silly," Iruka-sensei smiled, "I don't mind waiting with you, and I can't leave you alone, what if something happened to you, I'd never forgive myself."

Naruto kicked at the dirt again and pouted. His dad had never forgotten to send someone to get him before. He couldn't understand why his dad would just forget about him, he knew he had to share his dad with everyone else, but he had always figured that even if he had to share, he always got the biggest bit.

"Yo."

Naruto snapped his head up and looked at Kakashi. He felt a little betrayed; he had assumed that his dad would come to get him, that he would say sorry for forgetting about him and then maybe buy him some ramen. But his dad hadn't come at all.

Kakashi turned to Iruka-sensei and smiled widely, "thanks for watching him."

"It was my pleasure," Iruka-sensei grinned down at Naruto and ruffled his hair. He ducked out of the way, angry for some inexplicable reason. His dad always ruffled his hair.

"Bye Naruto," Iruka-sensei called.

Naruto didn't reply. He jumped off the swing and stalked past Kakashi in the direction of home. He was angry. Really, really angry. His dad wasn't supposed to forget about him ever. He was supposed to be more important than the stupid village.

"Are you angry with me or your dad?" Kakashi asked from behind him.

Naruto ignored him and stomped up onto the doorstep. The house was always unlocked, but the wards wouldn't let anyone but Naruto, Kakashi and Naruto's dad in. Naruto kicked his shoes off violently and barged his way up the stairs towards his room. He listened carefully for Kakashi, but he couldn't tell if he was following him or not, he was always too silent.

He slammed his door shut as loudly as he could and sat on the end of his bed with his arms folded.

"Naruto…"

"Don't come in!" Naruto screeched when the door edged open.

Kakashi gently slid the door shut.

"Are you going to tell me why you're angry?" Kakashi called through the closed door.

If he didn't know then he was stupid.

"How can I apologise if I don't know what I'm sorry for?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm not angry at _you_!" Naruto yelled.

"Are you angry because you think your dad forgot about you?"

"He _did_!" Naruto cried angrily, "he forgot! It's not fair! He's not supposed to forget about me! He's _my_ dad, not the village's! Everyone else has their own dad, they don't need mine as well!"

"He didn't forget about you Naruto…"

"Yes he did!" Naruto jumped up and stamped his feet as he walked across the room, "I hate him!"

"No you don't."

"I do! And I hate you too!"

"He forgot to check the time," Kakashi said.

Naruto stopped stamping around his room and turned towards the door, "what?"

"He didn't forget about _you_," Kakashi said, "he forgot to check the time."

"There's no difference!" Naruto yelled.

"Of course there is," Kakashi replied, "he knew he had to pick you up from the Academy, he just forgot to keep checking the time so that he wouldn't be late."

"Well he should have kept checking," Naruto scowled, but he didn't feel as angry as he had before.

"You should have seen his face when he realised what time it was," Kakashi said, "I thought he was going to throw up."

Naruto pouted. But he hovered closer and closer to the door, "how come he didn't come to get me then?"

"Because _I_ wanted to," Kakashi said, "and because you can barely see his office for all of the paper."

"Paper?" Naruto was standing right next to the door now.

"You've never seen so much paper in your life," Kakashi chuckled, "you could make your own hidden village out of origami."

Naruto slid the door open a little, "I don't really hate you Kakashi."

"I'm glad," Kakashi replied, "I'd be really upset if you did."

He swung the door open and looked up at Kakashi, still wearing a slight pout, "it's still not fair."

"I know," Kakashi sighed, "he said he was sorry, and he'll be home as soon as he can."

"Can I have ramen for dinner?" Naruto looked furtively at his feet.

Kakashi chuckled, "alright, but we're ordering out. I refuse to eat anything that's been in your fridge."

Naruto smiled tentatively as he followed Kakashi down the stairs. Now that he wasn't quite so angry, he had remembered about the thing that Kiba had given him, and wondered how he was going to get it into Kakashi's pocket without him noticing.

oO0Oo

Minato flashed straight onto his doorstep. He had told Kakashi he would be home in a couple of hours, and if he had felt guilty about letting Kakashi stay and help with the paperwork earlier, then there wasn't a word for how he felt now, knowing that Kakashi had given up his evening to babysit when he would probably have preferred to be out with his friends.

But what he felt about leaving Kakashi to take care of Naruto was nothing compared to how he felt knowing that he had forgotten about his little boy. He still felt slightly nauseous. What if Naruto had tried to go home by himself and been kidnapped by some pervert, or by one of Konoha's enemies? What would have happened if no one had noticed that he was still at the Academy after everyone else had gone home? No one would have called to remind him about Naruto, he would have been left by himself for god knows how long.

What if Naruto hated him for forgetting about him?

He froze in the act of slipping his shoes off and listened in mild confusion to the sound of Naruto's hysterical laughter ringing through the house. He had been imagining an argument, a sulking Naruto and an entire night of apologising, not the breathless giggles that Naruto's laughter had descended into.

As he moved soundlessly through the house he frowned at the smell of paint that seemed to permeate the air. He felt something jerk through him when Kakashi's laughter joined Naruto's, and his curiosity got the better of him, he burst into the room and felt his eyes go wide when he saw the state of his house.

"Dad!" Naruto squealed, "look what we made!"

Naruto was standing on the coffee table, covered almost from head to toe in paint. There were blue and orange footprints dancing patterns across the floorboards, and red and green handprints on the ceiling. Kakashi was standing in the corner, wearing a sheepish smile and enough purple paint to redecorate the house.

"What on earth…" he stepped further into the room and wondered if he was supposed to be angry or amused.

"Did you know that red and yellow make orange, dad?" Naruto giggled, "Kakashi showed me! And blue and red make purple, look!"

Minato followed Naruto's finger to where it was pointing to the sheet spread across the floor. The material was covered in paint, all different colours, in swirling patterns and hundreds of shapes.

"It's modern art!" Naruto cried happily, grinning for all he was worth, and just seeing Naruto so happy made up Minato's mind. He was definitely amused.

"It's an old sheet," Kakashi said suddenly, "there were holes in it and it was torn and…"

"That's my signature in the corner!" Naruto bounced excitedly, pointing to the corner closest to Minato, "Kakashi said that artists have to sign their paintings, so I did! See?"

"The paint will wash off," Kakashi said, "not off the sheet, but off the floor and the furniture and…"

"Kakashi even put paint on the ceiling!" Naruto squealed, "we put paint on our hands and feet, and Kakashi walked up the wall on his hands and painted the ceiling, look dad!"

"I'll wash it off…" Kakashi said, wincing nervously.

Minato had been biting his lip so hard he was afraid he might draw blood, but seeing Naruto gleefully pointing to the ceiling while Kakashi looked like he might have a heart attack was too much. Minato's laughter began as a slight shaking in his shoulders, but it had soon moved through his chest until he couldn't breathe for laughing. He doubled over, clutching his stomach and crying tears of hilarity.

"Can we put it on the wall when it's dry dad?" Naruto shouted to be heard over his laughter, "it's really big, so you have to come up here on the coffee table to see it properly, come quick!"

Still laughing, Minato hopped up onto the coffee table with Naruto and looked down over what had at one point been a bed sheet. It was fixed in place with a vase, a casserole dish and two piles of thick books pinning each corner to the floor.

It looked as though they had submerged themselves in paint and wrestled upon the bed sheet.

"It's beautiful," Minato grinned down at his son.

Naruto beamed. His clothes were ruined, they were covered in paint. His hair was mostly blue and there were streaks of purple across his face. He was mostly orange with splatters of green. He looked adorable.

Across the room, Kakashi shuffled from foot to foot, obviously not sure whether or not he would be in trouble for the mess once Naruto had disappeared to bed. He was equally as colourful as Naruto and equally as adorable, and Minato had never been so fond of him. His little boy was laughing beyond himself and he had Kakashi to thank for it.

"Um… Naruto," Kakashi said, "maybe you should go and get cleaned up."

Naruto turned to tug on Minato's coat, getting green and orange handprints on the white material, "don't move the painting, it has to dry!"

Minato forced his features into some semblance of seriousness and nodded, before Naruto jumped off the coffee table and raced towards the stairs and Minato cracked up again.

Kakashi edged his way around the painting as Minato stepped off the coffee table. There was paint everywhere, and despite the absolute joy hanging in the air, Minato knew that he probably would have been ever so slightly annoyed at any other time, but he was simply so relieved that Naruto wasn't angry about being left to wait outside the Academy that he didn't care.

"I had planned to have the place clean by the time you got back," Kakashi admitted, "but I uh…"

Kakashi yelped when Minato grabbed him, but he seemed to melt when he realised that he was being hugged, not murdered. Minato tightened his arms around him and just smiled. Kakashi slotted perfectly into his arms, he was the perfect height, the perfect build, Minato felt utterly content while holding him.

"Thank you," he whispered into Kakashi's hair, before letting him go.

"You have paint on you now," Kakashi said with a half smile.

"Good," Minato grinned, "make some tea while I check on Naruto, and then you can tell me what that is supposed to be a picture of."

"Actually," Kakashi sighed and ran his green hand through his purple hair, "I have no idea."

oO0Oo

Kakashi grimaced at the mess. It had started out as a way to cheer Naruto up. The boy had been in a generally bad mood and refused to be happy about anything. They had started out with crayons, but the orange crayon was just a stub and the yellow one was broken, and then Naruto had started ranting about a grey one and how his dad had broken his promise, so Kakashi had decided that the crayons had to go.

He had never finger-painted. Even as a child he had never done anything like that, so it was as much for his benefit as for Naruto's. They had gone through Naruto's sketch pad at lightning speed, so Kakashi had set out to find a bigger canvass. He found the sheet in the cupboard in the spare room.

He hadn't actually given much thought to what the Hokage would think when he got home. Kakashi's only concern had been to cheer Naruto up, he had only taken in the extent of the damage that they had done to the room when the Hokage had walked in. He couldn't begin to describe how relieved he was that his sensei wasn't angry about the mess.

He had finished making the tea when the Hokage wandered into the kitchen, holding Naruto's paint soaked clothes and Kakashi's splattered flak jacket in his hands.

"Apparently he's old enough to bathe himself," Minato smiled ruefully, "I'm feeling a little redundant."

"You're not redundant," Kakashi smiled as he turned the tap and tried to wash some of the paint from where it had dried on his hands.

"Soon he'll be telling me he's too old to…"

Kakashi turned to glance over his shoulder when the Hokage fell silent. The man was frowning down at something he was holding in his hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he turned the tap off.

"What's this?" the Hokage frowned as Kakashi dried his hands on the kitchen towel.

"What?" Kakashi wandered across the kitchen, peering curiously towards what the Hokage was holding.

"This!" the Hokage cried, thrusting his hand towards Kakashi and scowling.

Kakashi blinked down into his hand, and coughed in surprise, "it's uh… a condom."

He raised an eyebrow when he looked back into the Hokage's face. He was startled by the angry glare directed at him.

"I can see that," the Hokage hissed, "what are you doing with it?"

Kakashi's eyes widened, "what?"

"You heard me!"

"What do you mean what am _I_ doing with it?" Kakashi asked angrily, "what are _you_ doing with it?"

"It fell out of one of the scroll pouches in your flak jacket," the Hokage hissed, "what was I supposed to do, pretend I hadn't seen it?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Kakashi said. He knew for a fact that there were no condoms in any pocket, pouch or fold of any item of clothing he owned. He had never seen the condom the Hokage was holding in his hand.

"_Ridiculous_?" The Hokage's eyes flashed.

Kakashi doubted he had ever seen the Hokage look quite so angry, and if he wasn't so angry himself he might have wondered about it. But he knew that the condom wasn't his, the accusation that it was and the angry growl that the accusation was made with only made him even angrier.

"It isn't mine," he said, trying to remain calm while his ex-teacher glowered at him.

"Well it certainly isn't mine," came the reply.

"Sure about that are you?" Kakashi snapped, tossing the towel he had been using to dry his hands violently onto the worktop. He felt kind of hurt, not only by the fact that he was being accused of something so unimportant and ridiculous, but by the idea that the condom might in fact be the Hokage's. He was hurt by the idea that the man might actually _need_ condoms.

He valiantly ignored the small spark of jealously that flickered inside him.

"What?" the man hissed, and Kakashi immediately regretted the insinuation, because he _had_ seen the Hokage this angry before, but he had only been a child at the time and they had been at war.

"I don't know where that came from," Kakashi said.

"It came from your pocket!"

"Well I didn't put it there!"

"Then who did?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Dad?"

Both Kakashi and the Hokage jumped in fright when Naruto's voice interrupted them.

oO0Oo

"Naruto," his dad said breathlessly, "go to bed alright, I'll come up to tuck you in in a minute."

"Why are you fighting?" Naruto looked between the two of them, utterly confused. He had never heard them fight before, and it was more than a little frightening.

"We aren't fighting," Kakashi replied, "we're… disagreeing."

But they both looked so angry, and he had heard them yelling at one another. Naruto tugged slightly on his dad's sleeve, "why are you angry?"

His dad breathed in deeply and gave Naruto a tight smile, "I'm not," he said, "come on, time for bed."

He saw the glint of plastic when his dad unclenched his fist slightly, and he recognised what he had in his hand. Kiba had given it to him earlier, because Kiba said that his uncle took them with him to be lucky on dates, and that's what Naruto wanted, for them to be lucky on their next date so that it would work and Kakashi could come and live with them.

"Are you fighting because of that?" he asked nervously, pointing to his dad's hand.

"What?" his dad frowned down at him.

oO0Oo

He didn't even know why he was angry. He knew, on some level, that he was overreacting. But he couldn't help it. Something red hot and murderous had woken up inside him when he had seen the condom fall out of Kakashi's flak jacket. He didn't want to think about what Kakashi needed condoms for, but he didn't need to think about it to know the reason.

Kakashi was standing silently behind him, and Minato couldn't turn to look at him. He wasn't sure what he would be tempted to do if he looked into Kakashi's face. He felt cheated somehow. He hadn't even known Kakashi was having sex. He should have known, he had a right to know, Kakashi should have told him. Even though part of him understood that it was really none of his business, the rest of him was angry about being kept in the dark.

Who was she? He couldn't think of any of the girls Kakashi knew that he might be attracted to. He knew Anko, he had seen Kakashi talking to Kurenai, and he knew that Yuugao smiled whenever she saw Kakashi, but just the idea of any of them touching Kakashi made him shake in anger.

He needed to find out which one of them it was. He shot a raw glance back towards Kakashi's face and his skin started crawling when he imagined one of them, any one of them, stroking their hands over Kakashi's skin, running their fingers through his hair, making him gasp…

He had started to grind his teeth. He needed to know which one of them it was, so that he could send her on a very long mission, somewhere very far away. Kakashi's frown was deepening the longer Minato spent staring at him, imagining all manner of things that he had never allowed himself to imagine about Kakashi before, but imagining him with someone else and slowly torturing himself.

He blinked the red haze from his vision when he realised that Naruto had said something to him. He breathed in deeply and looked down at him, "what?"

"Were you fighting because of the lucky charm?" Naruto asked, his blue eyes wide and frightened.

"What lucky charm?" he asked in confusion.

"That one," Naruto pointed to his clenched fist. Minato frowned down at his hand, at the condom grasped in his fist, and blinked in incomprehension.

"This isn't…" he frowned at his son, "Naruto, what makes you think this is a lucky charm?"

"That's what Kiba said it is," Naruto said, with tears gathering in his eyes, Minato panicked for a moment when he thought that Naruto was about to start crying, but he turned Naruto's words over in his mind as he crouched down beside him.

"Kiba?" he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and forced himself to smile, "Naruto why…" he frowned suddenly, something pounded painfully in his head, "he said that's what this is?"

Naruto nodded.

"This one in particular?"

He nodded again, his lips had started to wobble, "you weren't fighting because of that were you? Because he said that his uncle takes them on dates to be lucky."

"Naruto," Minato felt slightly queasy, "did you put this in Kakashi's flak jacket?"

Naruto nodded, "it was for luck!"

Minato pressed his hand to his face and groaned loudly before he turned to look at Kakashi over his shoulder. He shrivelled up with guilt when he thought back to how he had yelled at Kakashi. But as he parted his lips to tell Kakashi that he was sorry, the young man scowled and spun towards the door.

"Kakashi wait!" Minato was on his feet before Kakashi made it to the kitchen doorway, "I'm so sorry, I completely overreacted."

"I'm sorry too!" Naruto whimpered, "I'm sorry Kakashi!"

"It…" Kakashi sighed and looked over his shoulder, past Minato towards Naruto, "you don't have to apologise, it wasn't your fault."

Minato was well aware that that statement wasn't aimed anywhere near him.

When Kakashi turned back to the door without another word Minato panicked. He leapt for Kakashi and grabbed his arm, preventing him from moving any further into the hallway.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, pleadingly, "I should have listened to you when you said it wasn't yours…"

"I don't even know what we were arguing about," Kakashi snapped, "what if it had been mine? You had no right to get so angry about it."

Minato didn't know what to say. His grip on Kakashi's arm loosened enough for Kakashi to tug himself free and march towards the front door.

"I… I know," Minato called after him, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Kakashi called back, but it obviously wasn't, "goodnight Naruto." Kakashi didn't turn back, he slipped his shoes on without a backwards glance and vanished into the night.

Minato felt thoroughly shaken. He hadn't been able to explain just how sorry he was because when he knew for certain that the condom wasn't Kakashi's he had felt so inexplicably relieved that he hadn't been able to order his thoughts. He didn't have to worry about anyone having sex with Kakashi, he didn't need to hunt them down and send them away.

But he still couldn't work out why he had been so angry in the first place; why he felt so lost with the thought of Kakashi's lips on someone else, or his hands undressing another person. It didn't make sense, it was almost like he was…

Jealous.


	5. Part 5

Naruto was through. He was done. It was over. He wanted Kakashi to live with them, but if he kept trying to get him to move in then he would only end up driving Kakashi away. He was washing his hands of the whole idea.

"So?" Chouji asked, smiling enthusiastically as Naruto pouted into his lunchbox, "what happened? Did it do anything? Did it bring them luck?"

"My dad found it," Naruto muttered, "he got really mad and yelled at Kakashi. Then Kakashi yelled back and then he left."

"Huh?" Chouji frowned, "it didn't work?"

"No," Naruto frowned, "stupid Kiba."

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Chouji asked.

"Nothing," Naruto dropped his head onto the table and sighed heavily.

"I knew it," Sasuke said from behind him, "you're a…"

"If you call me a scaredy cat one more time I'll…"

"You'll what?" Sasuke smirked arrogantly.

Naruto wilted, "I'll agree with you," he whimpered.

Sasuke actually flinched in surprise, "what? You're just… quitting?"

Naruto nodded and prodded his sandwich.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto and forced him to turn around and face him.

"What?" Naruto squawked, "let go! What do you want?"

Sasuke peered suspiciously into Naruto's face as he released him. Then pulled his fist back and punched Naruto square in the face.

Naruto cried out in surprise when his face exploded in pain. He tumbled out of his seat and pressed his hands over his nose. Blood was pouring down over his mouth and dripping from his chin.

"What the hell?"

"Who are you?" Sasuke roared angrily, "where's the real Naruto?"

"Are you insane?" Naruto screamed, "I'll kill you!" He was on his feet in a flash and launching himself at the Uchiha, snarling angrily. His knuckles impacted painfully with Sasuke's teeth before the other boy could dodge.

"Naruto!" Sakura's voice bellowed out from nowhere, "leave Sasuke alone!"

They somehow rolled under the table, and when Sasuke thought he had Naruto pinned, grinning down at him through bloodied teeth, Naruto head-butted him. Sasuke's lip split open with the impact and he hit the back of his head on the underside of the table.

"What the hell is the matter with you bastard?" Naruto yelled, "I agree with you and you punch me?"

"Naruto would never admit to being a scaredy cat!" Sasuke growled, "he would _never_ give up!"

"It's impossible!" Naruto cried as Sasuke pulled on his hair, "everything I do only makes it worse!"

He grabbed Sasuke's fingers and bent them backwards, making the other boy wince in pain, "you should have just taken my advice and locked them in a cupboard together!" Sasuke drove his elbow into Naruto's side.

"Fine!" Naruto grabbed a handful of Sasuke's hair, "and when it doesn't work you can buy me a bowl of ramen in apology!"

They froze when the table was dragged away, and Iruka-sensei glared angrily down at them, with a vein twitching in his temple.

oO0Oo

Minato furrowed his brow in annoyance when Naruto kept wriggling. He wouldn't keep still long enough for him to wipe the blood away and ascertain the extent of the damage.

"Keep still."

"It hurts!" Naruto whined.

"Well you should have thought of that before you started fighting," Minato pointed out as he used one hand to hold Naruto's chin and the other to wipe the blood from his nose.

"Ow! He started it! I didn't do anything!"

"I believe you, thousands wouldn't," Minato remarked sarcastically, "you knocked one of his _teeth_ out Naruto."

"He deserved it!" Naruto scowled, "he punched me!"

"Why did he punch you?" Minato tightened his grip on Naruto's chin when the boy tried to turn away.

"Because," was his reply.

"Because what?" Minato growled in exasperation.

"Because he's an stuck up, girly haired, thinks he's so great, fat headed, bast-"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence if you want to live to see your next birthday," Minato narrowed his eyes as he continued to wipe Naruto's face.

Naruto just pouted through the blood.

Minato froze. A flicker of chakra appeared within the wards of the house. He knew immediately that it was Kakashi, and while he was desperate to see him, a part of Minato wanted to run and hide. He hadn't realised until Kakashi had left last night that he had been immeasurably jealous. He had known for a while that he found Kakashi attractive, he had grown into a remarkably good looking young man and Minato had no qualms about acknowledging that fact. But he had always drawn an invisible line between himself and Kakashi, one that he was determined never to cross, and last night he had crossed it with his jealous thoughts of Kakashi and someone else.

"Ow! Dad!"

Minato jerked in surprise when Naruto slapped his hand away. He had been pressing the cloth roughly into Naruto's bruised nose while his thoughts drifted back to the events of the previous night.

"Oh, sorry," Minato shook himself. He had no time to organise his thoughts before Kakashi appeared in the doorway.

"Is he alright?" Kakashi asked breathlessly as he glided across the kitchen towards where Naruto was perched upon the worktop near the sink, "Uchiha Itachi told me that Sasuke had to have an x-ray because of a fight he got into with Naruto."

"An _x-ray_?" Minato turned to glare at Naruto, reminded of the fact that he had been in the middle of chastising Naruto before Kakashi's arrival scattered his thoughts to the wind.

"Did I break his head?" Naruto asked with what appeared to be hope in his face.

Minato scowled and pulled the boy's chin back towards him.

"His finger apparently," Kakashi replied. Minato faltered for a moment when he heard Kakashi's voice from directly behind him. He wanted to turn around and look at him, he wanted to apologise again, but he was sure that if he turned to see Kakashi glare at him, or if Kakashi simply refused to look at him, then he would crack apart.

"Is that all?" Naruto whined, "damn."

"He's supposed to be your friend isn't he?" Minato asked. He was trying to ignore how close Kakashi was to him, but when the jounin leant closer to see more of Naruto's injuries over Minato's shoulder, his chest touched Minato's arm. He dropped the cloth he had been using to mop up Naruto's face and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"He's my _best_ friend," Naruto corrected.

"Who won?" Kakashi asked.

Minato turned to frown at the younger man before he could stop himself, "Kakashi!"

"I did," Naruto preened, "obviously. Sasuke's a girl!"

"That's my boy," Kakashi grinned as he ruffled Naruto's hair.

"The two of you are as bad as each other," Minato complained, but he was smiling as he spoke. He hadn't been sure if Kakashi had forgiven him, he had left so abruptly the night before, and Minato had behaved so stupidly that Kakashi had every right to be angry with him. But he was standing so close to Minato that they were touching, and Kakashi was laughing happily with Naruto as though everything was fine. Minato allowed himself a hopeful smile. It was almost as if nothing had happened the night before and Minato could only hope that it meant that Kakashi had forgiven him.

"Are you staying for dinner Kakashi?" Naruto asked, eyes gleaming excitedly.

Kakashi's smile faltered slightly. He glanced to the side, meeting Minato's gaze for a second before he focused back on Naruto.

"I don't think so Naruto," Kakashi replied, "I've already eaten, and I have sentry duty soon so…"

Naruto's face fell, Minato could only imagine that his own face was a mirror of his son's expression. Obviously he hadn't been forgiven, he'd known Kakashi long enough to know when he was making excuses, and he knew for a fact that he didn't have sentry duty for a couple of hours, there was plenty of time for them to eat.

"I'd better get going," Kakashi said. Naruto's arm reached out to grab hold of the sleeve of Kakashi's shirt, but he wasn't fast enough, his fingers wrapped around thin air. Minato watched Kakashi stride across the room, and he knew that he could make Kakashi forgive him, all he needed to do was call out and apologise, Kakashi wouldn't be able to hold onto his anger when confronted with an honest apology. But his throat had closed up, he couldn't form words, and by the time he had worked up the nerve to call his name, Kakashi had gone.

He stared at the empty doorway for a few more moments, before Naruto punched him in the arm.

"Hey!" he cried, frowning into the bloodied face of his son, "what was that for?"

Naruto scowled, he looked exactly like Kushina when he wore that expression, "do something!" the boy demanded, "he's angry at you, not me! Fix it!"

Minato rubbed his arm and looked back towards the doorway, "I will," he promised.

oO0Oo

It had grown cold, a chilling wind was blowing through the leaves and Kakashi was on the outskirts of the village, prowling around the walls of Konoha like a black wraith, so he felt the ice of the wind whereas those within the village walls would be shielded from it.

His gloves didn't reach all the way up to his shoulders, and the ANBU uniform was sleeveless, his upper arms were freezing.

"Kakashi-san."

He halted, he had felt the presence of the other ANBU, but he had hoped that he would be ignored and allowed to continue his silent wandering.

"You're shift ended an hour ago, Kakashi-san," the ANBU said. There was a question in there somewhere, so Kakashi nodded in agreement but made no attempt to explain himself. If he wanted to brood in the night rather than in a lonely apartment then it was his own business.

It didn't feel so lonely outside either. In his apartment, where he couldn't help but think that he _shouldn't_ be alone, it felt worse to be by himself.

But he could still feel the ANBU's eyes on him, watching him curiously, "I was just heading home," he said. He sighed when the ANBU left, and continued his prowling.

He was annoyed at himself more than he was at the Hokage, although he still had a healthy amount of anger aimed at him too. He had always known that his feelings would never be reciprocated, but perhaps there had been a small part of him that had continued to hope, because now that he had finally been convinced of the futility of his fantasies he felt a chill that had nothing to do with the wind. The Hokage would never look at him in the same way because he considered Kakashi too young. Kakashi had always known that, he had always hated the fact that his sensei considered him a child despite the fact that he was at least a centimetre taller than the man. But seeing the extent of the Hokage's anger at the thought of him having sex had finally driven the fact home. If the man considered him too young to have sex then there was absolutely no hope whatsoever.

Kakashi spun around and kicked the wall. The Hokage must think of him as a son, or a brother, otherwise why would he act so protectively? The idea that his sensei cared about him as much a he would a brother made Kakashi smile, but it was a sad smile because it wasn't what he wanted.

"Kakashi-san."

Kakashi waved at the ANBU over his shoulder, "I know, my shift's over. I'm going."

He didn't wait to hear the ANBU's response. He vaulted over the wall and moved swiftly over the rooftops towards his apartment. But with each step he felt an invisible pull in the opposite direction, towards where he knew the Hokage's house was. It was as though his feet had a different concept of home than the rest of him, and they were determined to take him there, but he moved determinedly towards his apartment block and only swept off the lacquer mask when he was climbing the stairs towards his apartment.

He stumbled upon the final step when he saw the Hokage sitting in front of his door a little way down the corridor.

"Sensei?"

The Hokage smiled sheepishly, "you're late," he said as he rose fluidly to his feet. He was holding something in his hand, but in the darkness of the corridor Kakashi couldn't tell what it was.

He had no idea what to say. He hadn't been expecting to see the Hokage tonight, he hadn't decided what he wanted to say to the man, he hadn't decided whether he was still annoyed or not. But the Hokage was watching him anxiously and Kakashi couldn't summon up any harsh words, in fact, he felt a relieved smile try to break out onto his face. He missed his sensei, it may only have been a few hours since he last saw him, but he missed their easy conversations, or even the comfortable silences they could share. He just wanted everything to go back to normal because the truth was that nothing had changed, only his own fragile hopes.

"How long have you been sitting there?" he asked.

The Hokage chuckled slightly, with a hint of nervousness, "a couple of hours, maybe."

"Where's Naruto?" he asked.

"He's staying with Sasuke," the Hokage replied, "Mikoto agreed to take him in for the night."

Kakashi nodded and walked closer to the door, "do you want to come in?"

Even in the shadows he saw the Hokage swallow hard a moment before he nodded his head. Kakashi turned away from the man's anxious blue gaze and opened the door.

oO0Oo

Minato blinked against the lights when Kakashi turned them on. He felt like a teenager, with the sickening, anticipatory sensation that came with first dates and foolish crushes. The feeling made him feel like an idiot, because it was _Kakashi_ he was thinking of. But the longer he had sat out in the corridor, in the cold, with his back against the door, the more desperate he had started to feel. He had been both elated and terrified when Kakashi eventually returned to his apartment.

"What's that?" Kakashi asked once Minato had stepped out of his shoes.

"Hm?" Minato followed Kakashi's gaze to the flask he was holding, "…saké, I thought we could share some."

Kakashi frowned at him. Minato couldn't interpret his expression, he looked confused but Minato didn't understand why.

"Saké?" Kakashi asked in a bewildered voice.

He nodded, "yeah. It's not like we've never drank saké together before."

"Actually," Kakashi said, "we haven't."

It was Minato's turn to frown, "of course we have."

Kakashi blinked at him, "when?"

Minato almost laughed, he opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. His mind went blank.

He couldn't remember.

"There must have been a time…"

"There hasn't been," Kakashi said, almost sadly, "I'd remember if there had."

Minato couldn't reply. Kakashi's expression was one of such surprise that Minato was uncomfortably confused by it.

"Well… there's a first time for everything," he said with a tentative smile.

Kakashi looked from the flask to Minato's face and back again, before he seemed to reach a decision and stepped closer, pulling his mask down with one hand as he reached out with the other, "I'll warm it up, shall I?"

Minato nodded eagerly and handed him the flask.

"Make yourself at home, Sensei," Kakashi said as he moved into the sparse kitchen.

Minato followed him further into the apartment, glancing around as he moved and noting the small changes to Kakashi's apartment that had occurred since his last visit. There weren't many, just a few new, brightly coloured books added to the shelf and Kakashi's potted plant seemed to have grown, but the changes were enough to draw attention to how long it had been since Minato was last in Kakashi's apartment. The thought shocked him, he felt suddenly guilty at how accustomed he seemed to have become to Kakashi's presence in his own home. It felt as though he was taking Kakashi for granted, all of the time they spent together seemed to be due to effort on Kakashi's part and none on Minato's.

He hovered in the kitchen while Kakashi put the saké flask in a pan of water upon the stove. He had been constructing an apology while he waited for Kakashi to arrive, but now that he had the younger man in front of him he couldn't remember a word of it. Instead he said the first thing that came into his mind.

"I can't believe we've never drank saké together before."

Kakashi looked at him over his shoulder and smiled. Minato's stomach did a cartwheel.

"Maybe you've only just realised that I'm old enough to drink," he replied quietly as he turned back to the stove.

"Hm? That's nonsense," he frowned, "you've been old enough to drink for ages."

"I know," Kakashi said, staring studiously into the simmering water, "I've been old enough to do a lot of things for ages."

Minato didn't know what to say to that, he wasn't quite sure what Kakashi meant, so instead he turned towards the cupboards with the intention of fetching the cups, when he realised that he had no idea where Kakashi kept them.

He felt like a stranger in Kakashi's apartment, whereas Kakashi knew his way around Minato's kitchen better than he did.

"Where do you keep the cups," he said, uncomfortable about the need to even ask.

"In the cupboard on your left," Kakashi said.

He was supposed to be the one digging his heels in, afraid of letting Kakashi drift away, but confronted with the fact that Kakashi spent all of his free time in Minato's house, playing with Minato's son, bringing Minato coffee in the office and helping him with paperwork, he made the horrific discovery that their relationship seemed very one-sided. He didn't even know where Kakashi kept his cups.

When he closed the cupboard door again, Kakashi was removing his arms guards. Minato watched him slide the armour over his forearms, he watched him unclasp his chest armour and then roll one of his gloves down over his arm. It was only when he dropped the glove onto the counter and began to roll the other one down that Minato realised that he had been staring. He quickly looked away, praying that Kakashi hadn't noticed.

He had forgotten how tight the ANBU uniform was; how the arms were left bare without the gloves on; how his mouth went dry at the thought of Kakashi undressing.

He felt out of breath. Suddenly alcohol seemed like a very bad idea.

"Hot?"

Minato whipped his head around to face Kakashi. His mind stuttered to a stop.

"The saké," Kakashi said, "would you prefer it warm or hot?"

"Oh, uh…" he gave half a shrug, "I don't mind."

When silence fell again Minato was struck by how this was different from their usual silences. It was uncomfortable. He couldn't simply enjoy Kakashi's company because he kept struggling for things to say. He supposed that it was because of the apology he hadn't yet gotten out, any other words were stumbling over the 'I'm sorry' stuck in his throat.

"Kakashi," he licked his lips, and when Kakashi turned to face him he forced himself not to look away because an apology should always be delivered with eye contact, only Kakashi's eyes could burn holes through him.

"I'm sorry," he said finally, "for last night…"

"It's fine sensei," Kakashi replied, "it was just a misunderstanding. Let's forget about it."

But it wasn't fine, because even if Kakashi could forget about it, Minato couldn't. Something had woken up inside him and it refused to be ignored. He couldn't actually voice this to Kakashi though, because if he knew the direction Minato had allowed his thoughts to take then he would be scared away, and it wasn't just Minato who would suffer the loss, he had to think about Naruto and how much he adored Kakashi.

"Yeah," Minato breathed, "a misunderstanding…"

"How's Naruto's nose?" Kakashi asked. There was a fond sparkle in his uncovered eye and Minato couldn't help but smile at that.

"Sore," he replied, "it wasn't broken though, just bruised."

"Good, we wouldn't want his good looks ruined," Kakashi chuckled.

"Of course not," he nodded smugly, "he looks just like _me_."

"…yeah," Kakashi quickly looked back down at the stove, chewing on his lower lip. It was a nervous habit he had developed that was usually hidden by his mask, Minato had only ever seen him do it a handful of times, but he had never noticed how soft his lips looked before. When he released his lip from between his teeth it was slightly swollen due to the abuse it had received. He was so busy staring that he barely heard the sound of porcelain shattering.

Kakashi turned to look a second before Minato looked down to where the cups had smashed near his feet. He had completely forgotten that he was holding them.

"Damn," he hissed, "sorry, I'll…"

He knelt down to scoop up the shards, careful of the sharp edges, when Kakashi crouched down in front of him to help. He immediately forgot what he was doing, Kakashi's bottom lip was deep pink, almost red, and almost bee stung, he looked pouty after biting his lip and Minato wondered, with a vague sort of curiosity, if that was how he would look with kiss swollen lips.

The stillness of his hands finally caught Kakashi's attention, he looked up from the broken cups that he had been picking up to stare at Minato, "sensei?"

Minato's mind was working perfectly, the rational part of it knew that he was doomed, because for some reason his mind was no longer connected to his eyes, he couldn't make himself look away from Kakashi's lips.

"Yes, Kakashi?"

He was whispering and he didn't know why. Then Kakashi licked his lips and he had to clamp his mouth shut to hold in a sound that might have been much louder; they looked warm and inviting and Minato shuddered when he felt Kakashi's breath ghosting across his own lips.

"Sensei."

"Mm?"

"You're bleeding," Kakashi snatched up his hand, frowning in concern at the cut across his thumb. He hadn't even felt it, but when he looked down he saw blood running in tiny rivers across his palm, onto Kakashi's floor and the broken shards of porcelain between them.

"It doesn't matter," he heard himself say. He wanted to lean in and feel Kakashi's breath upon his lips again, before he fell back into himself with a start.

He shouldn't have been close enough to feel Kakashi breathing against him, not unless one of them had leant forward, and he had a sinking feeling that it had been him.

He snatched his hand back, leaping to his feet. His heart seemed to have stopped but he could still feel his pulse pounding, as contradictory as that was. Kakashi was still crouched down, but now he was crouched at Minato's feet, looking up at him in surprise with a wide, questioning eye and parted, reddened lips that Minato had very nearly kissed.

"I…" he took a step back, breathing rapidly as his eyes flitted around the room towards the exits, "I have to go…"

Kakashi started to uncurl from his crouch, but Minato was gone before he could stand up.

oO0Oo

Kakashi was left staring at the empty space in his kitchen that only a moment ago had been occupied by the Hokage. His apartment was utterly silent but for the water bubbling in the pan behind him. He wanted to scream, but if he opened his mouth he might be sick.

He was an idiot.

He couldn't explain why he had done that, why he had leant into the Hokage with the intention of kissing him. It had seemed perfectly reasonable at the time; the man had gone still, as though all of the momentum in his body had poured out of him. When Kakashi had looked, he had been sure that the Hokage was staring at his lips, holding himself so still that he might have been made of coloured glass. Leaning into him had seemed natural, he hadn't even had to think about it.

He was so desperate to cling onto his hope that one day the Hokage might return his feelings that he had been clasping at straws. The fact that he had brought a bottle of saké, the way his eyes had glazed over before Kakashi saw the blood on his hand. He felt utterly pathetic.

He'd never be able to look him in the eye again.


	6. Part 6

Naruto yawned widely and clambered up onto the chair across the table from Sasuke. They had had to get dressed before they could come down for breakfast and Naruto was sure that he had put his top on backwards. At home they ate breakfast in their pyjamas; his dad said it was because he couldn't function well enough to do up his buttons before he had had a cup of coffee, but Kakashi said it was so that they wouldn't dirty their clothes if they had to spit out whatever concoction his dad served for breakfast.

He was more inclined to believe Kakashi, since even after his dad had pouted about his cooking skills and bought some cereal, he had still put salt in the sugar bowl by accident and they had both ended up spraying mouthfuls of cereal and coffee across the table at one another.

Sasuke's mum smiled at them, but as she placed their meals in front of them her eyes went from Naruto's nose, which was now swollen and there were bruises under his eyes that were a brilliant shade of purple, to Sasuke's finger, which was strapped up in a splint, and rolled her eyes at them.

"Mum?" Sasuke called as she turned back towards the kitchen, "where's Itachi?"

"He's just finished his breakfast," she replied, "he went out to train…"

"We'll be right back!" Sasuke leapt from his seat and dived around the table, "come on."

Naruto yelped when Sasuke grabbed his wrist and yanked him from his chair, "Huh? Where are we going?"

Naruto stumbled after him into the hallway, still being pulled along by his wrist.

"You want to get your dad and Kakashi locked in a cupboard don't you?" Sasuke asked as they hurried through the house.

"No, I want the ramen that you're going to buy me when it doesn't work," Naruto replied.

Sasuke scowled at him.

"Fine…" Naruto mumbled, "but you said you already knew a way to trap them somewhere."

"No I didn't," Sasuke rolled his eyes as he tugged on Naruto's wrist, "I said I could find us a way to trap them."

"How?"

"Hurry up!" Sasuke hissed.

They dashed towards the front door, where Sasuke's older brother was sitting down to pull his shoes on.

"Aniki!" Sasuke grinned like Naruto had never seen him grin before, "we need your help with a project we're working on."

Itachi looked up, his eyes passed over them analytically, "it'll have to wait Sasuke…"

"Please," Sasuke whined, and Naruto memorized the exact pitch of his friend's voice so he could mimic him at a later date and laugh.

Itachi's gaze softened, but only by a fraction, "I have things to do, and I don't have the time to help you with your homework, maybe later…" He stood up and pulled the door open.

"It's not homework!" Naruto cried.

Itachi paused with one foot out of the door, "It's not for the Academy?" he turned back to them, his brows furrowing slightly.

Naruto shook his head, "it's for my dad and…"

"For the Hokage?" Itachi asked, eyes widening a little.

Sasuke nodded before Naruto could say anything else.

Itachi regarded them for a few moments longer, before he stepped back into the house and closed the door.

oO0Oo

Minato rubbed his eyes and frowned at the pile of scrolls still sitting on his desk. He was almost done for the day, just a few more mission scrolls to sign and he could go and pick up Naruto from Sasuke's house and then go home.

He had been working at lightning speed all day, he wouldn't have to worry about paperwork for months. He was sure that his assistants were convinced that he was an imposter, but they must have decided to let him finish the paperwork before they had him arrested. He was only worried about what he would do when all of the paperwork was gone, and there would be nothing to distract him from thoughts of soft, kissable lips and warm, inviting breath.

He lifted the nearest scroll, not bothering to scrutinise it properly when he pulled it open, and only realising his mistake when he touched the seal drawn across the parchment and suddenly found himself sitting in a dark, cramped space.

"Huh," he shrugged, "someone is getting fired for this."

oO0Oo

Kakashi dropped the bag of groceries upon the table and blinked at the scroll sitting there in front of him. The wards on his apartment hadn't been disturbed, only someone with explicit permission to enter could have placed the scroll on his table.

He scratched his head and snatched the scroll up, whipping it open and then glowering angrily into the darkness when the summoning seal on the scroll was activated by his touch.

Something moved. He tripped over whatever was at his feet and landed heavily on something warm and solid.

"Fuck."

"Kakashi?"

"…sensei?"

oO0Oo

"Oi, Sasuke," Naruto called across the room to the other boy who was digging for some sort of rare ninja weapon he supposedly had in his wardrobe, "why are we locking them in a cupboard again?"

Sasuke huffed in exasperation as he crawled further into his wardrobe, "because."

"Because why?"

"Because…" Sasuke muttered, "if they're in there long enough they'll kiss and stuff."

Naruto almost choked, "what? But… why?"

"I don't know," Sasuke moaned, "because that's the way it works, I read about it."

"Read about it where?" Naruto frowned.

"In one of my mum's books."

Naruto flopped back across the bed and pillowed his head on his arms, "so… where did your brother say those summoning scrolls would send them?"

"The tower in the Forest of Death," Sasuke replied curtly.

"And how are they going to get out again?" he asked, frowning worriedly when he remembered what Shikamaru had said about not being able to lock the Hokage up for any length of time.

"Idiot," Sasuke snapped, "the seals and wards on the closet will fade after twelve hours, they'll be able to leave then."

Naruto bit his lip and nodded, "I just hope the village doesn't get attacked in the next twelve hours."

Sasuke edged out of the wardrobe, "it won't," he said, "…will it?"

oO0Oo

Kakashi tried to climb off the Hokage, but the man yelped when he put his knee somewhere awkward and so he decided to keep very still and let the Hokage sort them out. At any other time he would be revelling in the contact, they were cramped together so intimately that his teacher's face was buried in his neck, their legs were tangled together and he had to hold onto the man's shoulders so that he didn't accidentally crush him. But he couldn't see, he had no idea where he was or why he was there, and he was embarrassingly aware that only the previous night he had tried to kiss the Hokage and sent the man running for the hills.

He wanted to go home, right after he murdered whoever had left that scroll on his table.

"Sensei…" Kakashi growled into the inky darkness, "where the hell are we?"

"I think," he could feel the Hokage's lips moving against his throat, "that we're in the Forest of Death… in the tower. On the fourth floor if I'm not mistaken, in one of the old weapons lockers."

"And what are we doing here?" Kakashi asked, squeaking slightly when the Hokage wriggled.

"No idea," the Hokage said. He sounded strained, as though he was trying desperately not to implode, "this is ridiculous, can you stand?"

Kakashi shifted his weight. He felt heat flood his face when one of the Hokage's thighs became trapped between his legs, he was suddenly glad for the darkness. The Hokage hissed loudly, and Kakashi quickly tried to scramble back off him, but the weapons locker wasn't meant to accommodate two people, he ended up hitting his head on something and crying out in pain.

"Are you alright?" the Hokage asked.

"I hit my head."

A finger poked him in the eye, "sorry, sorry…" then one of the Hokage's hands was running through his hair, slowly and carefully.

"I don't feel any blood," the man said softly.

"Marvellous," Kakashi grumbled, but his eyes had drifted closed with the ministrations of the Hokage's hand, "that feels nice."

He felt the Hokage's hand shake slightly. He could only hear his own breathing, as though the other man was holding his breath. He was suddenly uncomfortably aware of how close they were, of how he was enjoying the gentle caresses upon his scalp, of how one of the Hokage's thighs was still tantalisingly close to his crotch.

"Um…" he swallowed, "how are we going to get out of here?"

The Hokage's hand stilled, "…right, uh… come here."

"Come where?" Kakashi asked incredulously, "if I get any closer to you I'll be inside you!"

There was a very tense silence for a moment, before the Hokage let out a slow breath and quickly yanked Kakashi back down into his chest, holding him tightly.

Kakashi didn't have time to voice any kind of objection to being squashed against his former teacher, even if he had had such an objection. As it was, he was simply trying not to bury his face into the man's neck and breathe in before he felt the familiar pull of Hiraishin no Jutsu, and opened his eyes to the Hokage's office.

oO0Oo

There was silence for a few moments. His office was just as he had left it, although he had only been gone for about sixty seconds. They were standing behind his desk, he could see the remaining scrolls lying there over Kakashi's shoulder.

He knew that he should let go, that he should release Kakashi. He was holding them firmly together, with his arms wound around Kakashi's back. He could feel one of Kakashi's hands crushed awkwardly between their chests, and the other one was resting lightly upon his waist. He needed to step back, away from the younger man, he needed to put some space between them before he gave himself away. But the hand resting on his waist snaked around him before he could make his arms move, and it hit him that he wasn't holding Kakashi, they were holding each other.

He swallowed thickly. Pressed up against Kakashi he could feel how quickly the younger man was breathing. His knees felt slightly weak.

The door banged open and Minato hurriedly tried to move away from Kakashi even though their arms were still wrapped around each other.

He let out a most unmanly yelp when he stepped back and tripped over a mess of scrolls on the floor. He tumbled backwards, clutching Kakashi as he fell into his chair.

"Oh… I'm sorry," the chuunin in the doorway squeaked, "I'll come back later Hokage-sama."

Minato watched helplessly as the door was quickly closed, leaving him and Kakashi alone in his office, crumpled in his chair, with Kakashi half sprawled across his lap.

"You are the _clumsiest_ Hokage…" Kakashi laughed into his sternum.

Minato looked down at him. His treacherous arms were still defiantly holding onto him, and he could feel Kakashi shaking with laughter. Kakashi could get up if he wanted to, but for some reason he was still lying upon him, he hadn't moved, and Minato grinned down at the top of his head and enjoyed the feel of him.

"Who the hell sent me that scroll?" Kakashi looked up into his face, his uncovered eye was gleaming and his smile was obvious through his mask. Minato's chest expanded at the sight.

"The same person who sent mine most likely," he replied, making a mental note to thank whoever had sent it. He had Kakashi laughing in his lap, when earlier he had been sure that he would never be able to face the younger man again.

"Shall we do some investigating?" Minato asked hopefully.

Kakashi pushed himself up, climbing to his feet and standing over Minato with a wicked glint in his eye, "I think we would be remiss in our duties if we didn't."

Minato beamed up at him when Kakashi held out his hand to pull him up, "we should analyse the handwriting on the scrolls…"

"The perpetrator might have left a scent for us to follow…"

"And we'll need to inspect the wards upon the weapons locker…

They grinned at each other before they raced for the open window.

oO0Oo

Sasuke punched Naruto in the arm and lit the torch, "do you know any ghost stories?"

"Hundreds," Naruto grinned manically into the torchlight, "but I wouldn't want you to wet yourself."

Sasuke snorted, "you couldn't frighten a squirrel."

"Want to try me bastard?"

"Sasuke! Naruto-chan!" Sasuke's mother called from down the stairs, "could you come down here!"

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a glance, before they scrambled out from beneath the quilt they had arranged over the chairs and hurried towards the kitchen where Sasuke's mum was waiting.

Naruto walked into Sasuke when the other boy froze in the doorway. He scowled in irritation and peered over his shoulder, only to see Itachi standing in the middle of the room, with Kakashi on his left, and Naruto's dad on his right.

"Uh…"

Itachi met his brother's gaze, "you never told me you were trying to trap the _Hokage_," he accused.

Naruto chuckled sheepishly and smiled nervously up at his dad. But his dad seemed to be enjoying himself, he was grinning happily and his eyes kept flitting to Kakashi, who was chuckling quietly.

"I'm so sorry Hokage-sama," Sasuke's mother said, "you can punish Itachi and Sasuke any way you see fit, I'll discipline them myself as well."

"W-what are you going to do to us?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, I was going to fire someone," Naruto's dad smiled before he looked down at Itachi, "but maybe I'll promote someone instead."

Itachi blinked in shock.


	7. Part 7

Minato waited until the old woman had left his office before he flashed across the room and locked the door. She had come in to inform him that the council meeting scheduled for next week had been moved forwards to tomorrow morning, and caught him with his head on his desk and his eyes closed.

He hadn't been asleep. He had been _trying_ to fall asleep when the old bag had interrupted him with an impromptu lecture about his responsibilities and laziness.

When he was sure that no one would be able to get the door open, he walked towards the couch near the bookcase and flopped unceremoniously onto the cushions. For the first time in what might have been forever he had completed all of his paperwork, it had all been finished the previous day before he and Kakashi had been kidnapped by his son and his friend. He thoroughly deserved a nap.

When he closed his eyes he was immediately reminded of the darkness of the weapons locker. How he hadn't been able to see a thing, he might as well have had his eyes closed. But all of his other senses had spiked, he had never been more aware of the sound of Kakashi's voice, or how thick his hair was as he ran his fingers through it. He might not have been able to see, but he had been able to feel every inch of Kakashi's body against his when the younger man had first fallen onto him. Even blinded he had known that his thigh was between Kakashi's legs and it had been a monumental effort not to bend his knee and press his thigh into Kakashi's groin.

Minato groaned and rolled over onto his side. He had to stop thinking such thoughts. Kakashi was his friend, and it felt like a betrayal of trust to think about him like that. But even as he decided to cut off his train of thought, his mind supplied the sound of Kakashi's voice when Minato had been combing his hand through his hair. All of the heat in his body was suddenly focused between his legs.

If he had bent his knee, if he had rubbed his thigh against Kakashi's crotch, what would he have done? It was highly possible that Kakashi would have punched him, but he might have made more of those sounds that he had been making when Minato was massaging his scalp, only louder. He might have pressed down onto Minato's thigh, or kissed him. Minato had been preoccupied with Kakashi's lips ever since he had been in his apartment, he couldn't get them out of his mind.

He turned over and flopped onto his stomach, pressing his face into the cushion and groaning. He was doomed.

oO0Oo

Naruto shook his head in disappointment at Sasuke. The bastard had agreed to buy him ramen if his plan didn't work, but Itachi was the one paying for the meal, which didn't seem fair to Naruto. A deal is a deal. But Sasuke didn't seem particularly bothered.

Itachi, feeling rather generous after being praised by the Hokage, had agreed to take them to the ramen stand and buy them lunch. Little did he know how much Naruto could eat. Naruto could see Sasuke smirking to himself when Itachi told them to order whatever they wanted.

But Naruto was still at a loss as to how to get Kakashi to move in with them. Even Sasuke was out of ideas.

"Hey, Naruto!"

Naruto twisted around on his stool to see Kiba running down the street towards them. He scowled, remembering the trouble that his lucky charm had caused.

"Did it work?" Kiba asked as he skidded to a halt.

"No, idiot!" Naruto yelled, "it almost ruined everything!"

"Huh?" Kiba frowned and scratched his head, "I don't get it, my uncle…"

"I don't care about your uncle," Naruto turned back to his ramen as Shino wandered towards them, having strolled along while Kiba raced ahead.

"Well there has to be something we can do," Kiba declared.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Itachi peered at them all in mild confusion.

"Oi, Shino," Kiba said, "you said you knew a full proof way to get the old guy to move in with Naruto."

"He isn't old stupid! He…" Naruto choked on the next word and goggled at Shino, "you do?"

Shino nodded.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the other boy, "well? What is it?"

"Not here," Shino said mysteriously with a pointed glance towards Itachi.

Naruto frowned and turned to look longingly at his bowl of ramen. He wanted his ramen. But he wanted Kakashi to move in with them more.

"Hey old man!" Naruto yelled for the owner of the ramen stand, "don't touch my ramen! I'll be right back!"

He hopped off his stool and beckoned the others across the street, with Itachi watching them curiously

oO0Oo

Kakashi froze halfway through the window. He had tried the door first, but it had been locked, despite the fact that he knew that the Hokage was in his office, so he had decided to use the window. He used to use it all the time when he was younger. He had simply expected the Hokage to be so busy that he didn't want any distractions, and thinking that he might be able to help he had gone outside and leapt up onto the window ledge. He hadn't been expecting to find his teacher fast asleep.

As quietly as he could, he pulled himself all the way into the room and stood beside the window, watching the Hokage sleep. He had seen him asleep before of course, they had been on countless missions together in the past, and they had been forced to sleep in close proximity to one another on many occasions. But this time the Hokage thought that he was sleeping unobserved, and Kakashi was watching him completely unguarded.

Affection was swelling in his chest as he crept across the room. The Hokage looked so peaceful that Kakashi wanted to burn the image of him into his mind. His hair had flopped rakishly over his eyes, and his lips were slightly parted. He was a vision of loveliness draped over the couch, caught in a moment of sleeping innocence. Kakashi wanted to crawl onto the couch with him and hold him while he slept.

Instead he crouched down beside the couch and smiled as he watched the man breathe. He was achingly gorgeous and Kakashi just wanted to watch him for a while.

The Hokage made a small, soft, humming sound in his sleep. Kakashi wanted to touch him, his fingers were hungry to taste the warmth of his skin. He carefully let himself brush the hair from his teacher's eyes, careful not to wake him up, when a name fell from the man's lips.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi froze. His heart was racing. He wondered if the man was dreaming about him, or if he was just responding to Kakashi's proximity. After a few moments, the Hokage murmured something else, too softly to be made out, and pressed his face further into the cushion he was lying upon.

Kakashi couldn't think about the possibility of the Hokage dreaming about him. His longing would consume him if he allowed himself to contemplate what that might mean. Instead, rather than think, he spurred himself into movement and rested his hand upon the Hokage's shoulder.

"Sensei," he said softly, wary of waking him up too abruptly in case the Hokage's first instinct was to slam a Rasengan into his chest. He gently shook his shoulder and leant closer to him, until he could breathe in the scent of his sensei as he spoke.

"Sensei…" he shook his shoulder again, "Sensei…"

Kakashi licked his lips and tried to ignore the pounding of his heart.

"Minato."

"Mm," the Hokage opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as he turned to meet Kakashi's gaze.

"What?" he said quietly, "what did you call me?"

Kakashi swallowed, "M-Minato," he replied, feeling foolish, "you said… the other day you said I could… would you prefer it if I didn't?"

His teacher gaped at him for a moment, colour flooded his cheeks, "no… I mean yes! I…" He shifted, as though he was about to sit up, but he went rigid once he had propped himself up on his elbows and his eyes widened.

"Sensei?" Kakashi let his hand fall away from the Hokage's shoulder.

"Don't…" his sensei said in a sleep heavy voice, "don't call me that… I like the way you said my name."

All of the air in the room suddenly seemed thicker.

oO0Oo

Minato swallowed heavily and tried not to move. He could tell that Kakashi was blushing, despite the mask, and the sight was doing nothing to help his problem. He was insistently, embarrassingly _hard_.

When he had moved to sit up, he had grinded his erection into the couch and heat had rushed to his face. If he sat up then Kakashi would get an eyeful, and Minato was quite sure that he would die of shame. Or drag the younger man onto his lap and thrust against him, either way he was determined not to move until he was in control of his hormones.

And it was just penetrating his sleep befuddled mind that Kakashi had called him by his name. He had thought that it had been part of his dream, the Kakashi in his sleep always called him 'Minato,' but when he had confronted Kakashi, the younger man's reaction was enough to prove that he really had called his name. He felt light headed. No one else could make his name sound so beautiful.

"How did you get in?" Minato frowned.

"The window," Kakashi replied, "you always leave it open."

"Ah," Minato smiled, remembering how a younger, lankier Kakashi would always pour himself through the window despite how busy Minato was, and sprawl across the couch with one of his books.

He glanced across the room to where his coat was draped across the back of his chair. His erection wasn't as adamant for attention any more, but he couldn't will it away.

"Could you get my coat for me?" he asked Kakashi.

Kakashi glanced around, before his eyes fell upon the chair, and rose gracefully to his feet in one liquid motion, sending sparks of need firing through Minato's abdomen as he watched.

Minato knelt up on the couch, trying to hide his arousal until Kakashi returned with his coat and he could drape it conveniently across himself. The younger man hadn't appeared to notice but Minato still felt himself blushing anyway.

"Are you alright, sen… Minato?"

Minato's breath hitched. He felt out of breath, a stupid smile had spread across his face.

"You look a little flushed," Kakashi went on, "are you ill or something? Is that why you were sleeping?"

"No," Minato cleared his throat, "no, I'm fine."

Kakashi nodded and smiled. Minato forgot how to breathe.

"Where are you going now?" Kakashi asked.

"Huh?" Minato was sure that his mind was still asleep. He could only contemplate his erection, which was waning now thankfully, and the way his name sounded in Kakashi's voice. Although contemplating one was not helping to distract him from the other.

Kakashi pointed to the coat in his lap, "you wanted you coat, are you going somewhere?"

Minato blinked down at the white material, "oh… yeah," he blinked back up at the younger man and felt a powerful urge to lean against him. He wondered if he could persuade Kakashi to lie down with him on the couch and let Minato lean on him while he slept.

"I'm going to go and get Naruto," he replied, "Itachi took him and Sasuke to Ichiraku. Do you want to come? I'll treat you to some ramen."

Kakashi smiled and nodded, "alright."

oO0Oo

"Well?" Naruto asked eagerly as they all huddled together on the other side of the street from Ichiraku, "what's you plan Shino?"

"Set fire to Kakashi's apartment," Shino said simply.

Naruto stared incredulously at him. Kiba gaped at Shino and Sasuke frowned. Shino just watched them.

"Are you nuts?" Naruto squawked, "I can't do that! Where would he live?"

Everyone fell silent as they stared at Naruto.

"Idiot," Sasuke hissed, "where do you think?"

"Oh…" Naruto's eyes grew wide, "_ooooh_!"

oO0Oo

"Can I ask a favour?" the Hokage said as they turned the corner, "I have a meeting tomorrow morning and I need someone to watch Naruto…"

"I'll do it," Kakashi replied.

The Hokage smiled guiltily, "you don't have to drop everything just because I ask, you know."

"I know," Kakashi said, although he would drop anything for the man anyway, "I enjoy spending time with Naruto."

The Hokage smiled as they neared the ramen stand, "thank you."

Kakashi smiled back fondly, amused by the imprint of the cushion that was left on the Hokage's cheek from how he had been lying upon it. He turned away when he heard the hysterical laughter of Naruto from up ahead, and chuckled when he saw the boy and his friends hanging from a tree near the Ichiraku ramen stand like giggling fruits.

"Hokage-sama!" a woman's voice squealed from across the street.

Kakashi glanced over to her and her group of friends as they hurried towards them, giggling wildly as they blushed at his teacher. He scowled at them, and then very nearly growled when the Hokage halted and smiled back.

"I'll meet you up ahead," Kakashi muttered as he continued walking. The Hokage shot him a confused look before Kakashi hurried away, not wanting to listen to those women flirt with his sensei.

He saw the Inuzuka kid peer towards him from the branch he was hanging from, and then grin wolfishly as he elbowed his friend, "Shino," Kakashi heard him whisper, "look! It's Naruto's mum!"

Kakashi frowned and looked down at himself.

_Mum?_

"Naruto!" the Inuzuka called, "your mum's here!"

"Shut up!" Naruto glared at him as he dropped to the ground.

Kakashi shifted uncomfortably as Naruto ran across the street towards him. He felt a little embarrassed for Naruto, he hadn't realised that that Naruto would be teased because of him.

Maybe he was spending too much time hanging around the Namikaze household.

"Hi, Kakashi!" Naruto beamed at him as he ran over, "are you here to buy me ramen?"

Kakashi chuckled, but he couldn't help but dart a quick, worried glance up at Naruto's friends as they continued to giggle.

"You've already eaten," he said as he looked back down at the grinning boy.

"But I'm hungry!" Naruto complained.

"You're always hungry!" the Hokage yelled as he joined them, "you're a bottomless pit."

Naruto pouted, "please? Just one more bowl?"

"You'll get fat," Kakashi warned.

Naruto looked scandalised, "I wouldn't!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled from beneath the tree they had been climbing, "I have an idea!"

Without another word, Naruto raced back towards his friends.

"So…" the Hokage sighed, "ramen?"

Kakashi looked into his excited face, and then back towards Naruto, who kept glancing back over his shoulder to look at Kakashi. His friend Kiba kept pointing towards Kakashi and nudging Naruto, who scowled and kicked him.

Kakashi's heart sank. He wasn't being teased was he? Not because Kakashi spent so much time with him, Kakashi wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

"Hey," the Hokage poked him, "what's the matter?"

"Uh…" Kakashi turned back to him, biting his lip beneath his mask, but before he could say anything else, Naruto raced back towards them.

"Dad!" he yelled, "teach me a fire jutsu!"

He skidded to a halt in front of them and glared determinedly up at them.

"I don't think so," the Hokage shook his head.

"What? Why?" he cried.

"Because I said so."

"But…"

"Oh, Naruto," the Hokage interrupted before the boy could start begging, "I have to go to a meeting in the morning, so you'll be spending the day with Kakashi, alright?"

Naruto's eyes widened, "um…" he looked nervously back over his shoulder at his friends, who were all watching him, "I uh… I was going to go over to Sasuke's tomorrow, is that ok?"

Kakashi thought that his heart had just cracked apart.

"I suppose so," the Hokage replied, "did Mikoto-san say that it was alright?"

Naruto nodded furiously.

"Alright then, I guess so…" before the Hokage could finish his sentence Naruto had turned away and darted back to his friends, as though he was afraid that his dad might change his mind and make him spend the day with Kakashi after all.

Kakashi couldn't blame him, not really, his friends were obviously making fun of him because of his 'mum' and he felt terrible because of it.

"Anyway…" the Hokage sighed, "come on, ramen!"

"I'm… I'm not really that hungry…" he looked back to where Kiba was laughing and Naruto was blushing an alarming shade of red, and felt awful for him.

"Oh," the Hokage said quietly, "well, we could…"

"Actually, I'm just going to go home," Kakashi said, trying to sound cheerful, "I have stuff to do."

The Hokage blinked at him, "…right."

Kakashi felt his heart sink as he turned away, but he was resolute, if his constant presence was making Naruto the object of ridicule then he would just have to try spending less time with them. He was always hanging around them, like a lost puppy. But he had never known before that it would affect Naruto like this.

He continued walking. He didn't look back.

oO0Oo

"Just make Sasuke do it!" Kiba pointed at the Uchiha.

"No," Sasuke replied.

"Why not?" Naruto cried, "I thought you said you could do a fire jutsu?"

Sasuke shuffled, "I can," he said, "just don't want to."

"He's lying!" Kiba said, "he can't do one!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat. Slowly, they all turned to look at Itachi.

"You can't set fire to Kakashi-san's apartment," he told them.

Kiba leant closer to Sasuke and whispered, "does your brother have the ears of a bat?"

"No," Itachi replied, "I can read lips."

Naruto set his jaw and glared up at the older boy, "who asked you?"

Itachi rolled his eyes, "Kakashi-san would be really upset Naruto-chan," he said, "all of his possessions would be destroyed."

Naruto blinked. He had never thought of that.

"And someone could get hurt," Itachi went on, "why do you want to set fire to his apartment anyway?"

Naruto glowered at the ground, "because he'll come and live with us then."

Itachi crouched down in front of him, "why don't you just ask him to move in?"

"I tried that!" he wailed, "my dad says he has his own home! And I asked Kakashi once, ages ago, and he laughed, like I was kidding."

"You need to ask them again," Itachi said.

"What good will that do?" Naruto asked.

"Ask them again," Itachi repeated firmly, "together. When they're in the same room."

Naruto frowned. That wouldn't make a difference. He had already asked both of them and nothing had happened. What if he asked them both at the same time, and they started arguing again?

"Naruto," his dad walked over to them and smiled, but he looked a little sad, "come one, time to go home."

Naruto looked around, frowning, "where's Kakashi?"

His dad's smile seemed to waver, "he went home."

Naruto turned back to Sasuke, Kiba and Shino. He felt desperate, Itachi's advice had confused him, he didn't know what to do.

Kiba, Shino and Sasuke exchanged a glance, before they all looked back to him.

"We'll see you tomorrow Naruto," Kiba nodded meaningfully, "we'll have figured it out by then."

Naruto gave them a small smile and turned back to his dad.

"Figured what out?" his dad asked as they walked away.

"Nothing," he replied.


	8. Part 8

"Want to hear something stupid?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto rolled over until he could lean up on his elbows and look at the other boy, "go on then."

Sasuke's eyes flitted across the room to his bed, before he looked back at Naruto, "my cousin, Shisui, said that a monster lives under my bed."

Naruto turned to look at Sasuke's bed. He couldn't see beneath it, because the covers that fell over the sides of the mattress touched the floor, but he had slept in that bed plenty of times, surely they would know if a monster lived under there.

"That's stupid," Naruto huffed.

"I know that," Sasuke pouted slightly and folded his arms, "that's what I said to Shisui."

Naruto frowned and turned back to the bed. It was a pretty big bed. He supposed that a monster could fit under there. It would have to be a small monster though.

"He said…" Sasuke glanced towards the bed before he looked back at Naruto, "he said that when I'm asleep, it comes out to nibble on my toes."

Naruto sat up and looked down at Sasuke's feet, "your toes look fine to me."

Sasuke shrugged, he turned to look out of the window in front of them, but his eyes kept darting to the side to look at Naruto's face, "Shisui said that eventually I'll wake up, and all of my toes will be gone."

Naruto's eyes widened as he knelt up and carefully tucked his feet underneath him, "how did it get under there?"

Sasuke turned to scowl at him, "there isn't really a monster!" But despite his words, he still turned to peer at the bed.

"We should look and check," Naruto said, "just in case."

Sasuke's eyes widened, "but… there… there's no point."

Naruto clambered to his feet and stepped towards the bed.

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried.

"What?" he asked when he turned to look at Sasuke, "if it comes out when you're asleep, then it must sleep when you're awake," Naruto continued to step towards the bed, "so right now it will be sleeping; I'm just going to check."

"Wait!" Sasuke threw himself to his feet and grabbed Naruto's arm, "what if it tries to eat you?"

Naruto frowned, "it only eats toes, doesn't it?"

He could see Sasuke chewing the inside of his cheek, "wait here."

Naruto watched Sasuke rush towards the wardrobe and fling it open, almost throwing himself into it as he searched for something. There were some heavy thuds and the wardrobe seemed to shake, before a pair of bright red wellington boots came flying out of the wardrobe and hit the carpet with a muffled thump.

Naruto cocked his head to the side to stare at Sasuke as he crawled back out of the wardrobe, holding a leather shoe in each hand.

"Put those on," he said, nodding his head towards the wellies.

"Oh yeah," Naruto grinned, "so that it won't be able to get to our toes! You're a genius!"

Sasuke smirked as he slipped on his shoes, "I know. Just don't tell my mum that we were wearing shoes inside."

Naruto nodded as he tugged the wellies on. They were too big for him, his feet slid back and forth within them, but at least his toes were safe.

"Ready?" he asked, a little nervous but kind of excited.

Sasuke gave the bed one final anxious glance before he set his jaw and nodded.

Slowly and quietly, so that they wouldn't wake the monster up, they crept towards the bed. Naruto was the first to crouch down, and when he clasped the edge of the covers in one hand Sasuke dropped down beside him and whispered, "on three."

Naruto tensed, ready to run if the monster woke up and made a move towards his feet, and counted.

"Three. Two. One…"

At the same time Naruto and Sasuke yanked the covers up.

There was nothing there.

"Ha, I knew Shisui was lying," Sasuke smirked at Naruto, "I told you it was stupid. You should have seen your face, you were terrified."

"Me?" Naruto yelled, "you didn't even want to look! You were the one who wanted us to wear shoes just in case!"

"Yeah, well you thought it was a good idea!" Sasuke glared, "you called me a genius!"

"Well I take it back!" Naruto shoved Sasuke's shoulder, "you're a girl!"

Sasuke's response was interrupted by a banging on the door.

"Ooohoooh!" Naruto waved his arms about, "maybe that's the monster…"

"Stupid!" Sasuke pushed him over before getting up to answer the door.

Naruto peered one last time to the empty space under the bed, just to be on the safe side, and then let the covers fall back. He climbed up onto Sasuke's bed, watching as Sasuke pulled the door open and let Kiba saunter in.

"What is _she_ doing here?" Sasuke growled just before Hinata shuffled into the room behind Shino.

"Reel your neck in, Uchiha," Kiba growled, "she's with us."

"Why are any of you here?" Sasuke scowled and slammed the door, "what do you want."

Kiba rolled his eyes, "we said we'd help Naruto set fire to the old guy's apartment."

"He's not old!" Naruto scrambled off the bed.

"And you told _her_?" Sasuke sneered at Hinata, "you can't just go around telling everyone what we're planning! We'll get into loads of trouble! And girls always tell!"

"I w-won't" Hinata said softly, staring at her feet, "I promise… I want to help Naruto…"

"It's a stupid idea anyway," Sasuke said, "Naruto's already decided to do what Itachi said instead."

"What?" Kiba squawked, "that was a stupid idea! Why would he do what your stupid brother says?"

"My brother isn't stupid!" Sasuke screeched.

Naruto leapt out of the way when Sasuke jumped for Kiba. He was still wearing the red wellies, so he dropped to the floor so that he could pull them off. Hinata was looking nervously from Shino to the wardrobe that Sasuke had Kiba pinned up against.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" she asked softly, just as a loud bang and an 'oof' signified the knee that Kiba had slammed into Sasuke's stomach.

Shino shrugged in response.

Naruto could see the girl flinching each time Sasuke or Kiba threw a punch. He didn't think that Sasuke was being a very good host seeing as Hinata looked so nervous. She was wringing her hands together and chewing her lip as she watched them fight. Naruto scowled at where Sasuke had pinned Kiba to the floor and pushed himself to his feet.

"Oi!" he yelled, but they weren't listening to him.

If he couldn't make them stop, then he could at least stop Hinata from having to see them. He tugged the covers off the bed and threw them over the writhing boys.

"There," he beamed, "so, Hinata-chan, how come you wanted to help?"

Shino nudged her, "show him."

Nervously, Hinata reached into her pocket, and Naruto edged closer to her in curiosity. He peered suspiciously at the thin piece of paper that she pulled from her pocket, and his eyes went wide when he recognised what it was.

"Hey!" Sasuke threw the covers off him and stumbled to his feet, "who did that!"

But Naruto only had eyes for the paper in Hinata's hand, "that's… that's an exploding tag!"

Everyone in the room fell silent. Naruto blinked at the scrap of paper in awe. He wasn't allowed to mess around with exploding tags; he'd never even held one before. Once, when his dad had been organising his study, Naruto had crept in to startle him, and he had seen countless exploding tags of all different shapes and sizes and colours spread out over the desk. He had only touched the corner of one with his fingertip, but his dad had screamed so loudly at him that his eardrums had been buzzing for hours afterwards. He wasn't aloud to touch them.

"See!" Kiba grinned at Sasuke, "bet you're glad we brought her now!"

"Can I hold it?" Naruto asked as he reached out towards Hinata's hand, before a fist slammed into the back of his head.

"Argh!" he whirled upon Sasuke, "what did you do that for?"

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered, "you're not touching it. You'll blow your finger off."

"No I wouldn't!"

"So!" Kiba threw his arm around Naruto's shoulders, "what do you think? Great idea, huh?"

Naruto frowned, "what idea?" he looked back at the exploding tag, still clasped within Hinata's trembling hand, and blanched. He thought he knew what Kiba was getting at.

"This way," Kiba said, "we won't need prissy pants over there to do a fire jutsu. Which is a good thing, since he doesn't know how."

"I do!" Sasuke yelled, "and there is no way you can blow up Kakashi's apartment. That's just dumb."

"Well have you got any better ideas?" Kiba asked, but Naruto stepped away from them all and shuffled his feet. It was a bad idea, he knew it was. He could remember what Itachi had said about Kakashi being upset, and it horrified him. He didn't want to upset Kakashi.

"My brother…"

"You're brother is stupid and so is his idea!"

"P-please don't fight again."

Naruto didn't want to sound like a scaredy cat, but he didn't want to blow up Kakashi's apartment either. He swallowed and stepped back towards the others, squaring his shoulders.

"We don't need an exploding tag," he said.

Kiba and Sasuke turned to him, Kiba with a look of indignation and Sasuke with a look of triumph.

"You're not going to do what his brother said are you?" Kiba asked, "because you tried asking them before, it didn't work…"

"Yeah but…" Naruto shrugged, "all of Kakashi's stuff would be blown up…"

"So take his stuff out first," Kiba rolled his eyes, "we don't need to blow it all up, just his apartment."

Naruto blinked. He hadn't thought of that.

"But if we get caught…" he began, but Kiba interrupted him.

"We won't! That's why it's such a great plan!" he laughed, "all they'll be able to find out is that it was an exploding tag that blew the place up! Anyone could have done it!"

Sasuke frowned and scratched his head, and Hinata was watching him patiently. They certainly seemed to think that it was a good idea, and Sasuke had agreed with the plan to set fire to Kakashi's apartment before his brother suggested something else. Maybe he _was_ just being a scaredy cat.

"Don't tell me you're afraid," Kiba jeered.

Naruto scowled, "fine! That exploding tag had better work!"

oO0Oo

Minato pondered the crack in the ceiling. It wasn't very big, but no doubt it would stretch further across the room if left untended to. He could visualise the ceiling collapsing on the council members, and that image was the only thing keeping his sanity intact as the council argued like a bunch of children.

It made no difference what they decided on anyway, he _was_ going to disband ROOT so their arguing over the matter was pointless.

"Toilet break!" he yelled cheerfully over the chaos as he leapt to his feet. The yelling ceased as he crossed the room and disappeared through the door.

"Problem, Hokage-sama?" one of his assistants asked him as he leant against the door and tried to block out the councils grumbles from behind him.

"Do you think they'd notice if I sent a clone back in there?" he asked hopefully.

His assistant smiled in sympathy and Minato sighed, "no, me neither."

He ambled towards the toilets, figuring that he should at least pretend to go since he had used his bladder as an excuse to escape. He hated council meetings. All they ever did was squabble and throw tantrums until he agreed to whatever they wanted. Naruto had never been such a pain to deal with, not even during the terrible twos when he had discovered just how loud he could scream. Of course, Kakashi had always been able to shut Naruto up, usually just by ignoring him, eventually Naruto would figure out that he would get no attention from Kakashi if he continued to screech, so he would transform himself into the sweetest little boy imaginable and ask Kakashi for a hug. Minato had never had the patience; he had always pandered to Naruto's whims to get him to stop yelling. Perhaps Kakashi had the right idea; he should send the jounin to the next council meeting instead, he wouldn't be surprised if the elders ceased their arguing and asked for hugs just like Naruto.

He tried to picture Kakashi wearing his coat and sprawled in his chair. He _would_ sprawl, he would lounge behind the desk, with one leg cocked over the arm of the chair and let the paperwork pile up. The image made him chuckle, before it transformed into Kakashi sprawled in his chair, with one leg cocked over the arm, surrounded by paperwork, wearing _nothing_ but Minato's coat. He suddenly didn't have enough breath left to chuckle.

He quickened his pace towards the toilets.

oO0Oo

Kakashi turned back to look at Sasuke. The boy had dived behind a dustbin the moment he turned around. Kakashi tried to search the area for Naruto, but he couldn't sense him anywhere, which was odd, since he was supposed to be staying at Sasuke's.

He wandered towards the dustbin and peered over the lid. Sasuke was huddled on the ground, and when Kakashi's shadow fell over him he looked up with panicked eyes and squeaked.

"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Um…" Sasuke glanced around, "he's… with Kiba and the others."

"And why are you here instead of with them?" Kakashi said.

Sasuke crawled backwards, away from Kakashi, "because… it's a game… and I lost, so…" he jumped to his feet, "I'll be going then…"

He watched the little boy race away, mildly amused. He wondered what kind of game they were playing, and why it involved following him. He was tempted to follow Sasuke and find Naruto, so that he could ask them what game they were playing. But then he frowned at himself and turned back in the direction of the administration building. He was supposed to be staying away. Not forever, not all the time, he already missed Naruto and the Hokage, but he was determined to get used to only seeing them occasionally. That was his reason for heading to the mission room, he intended to request a long mission, somewhere far away, so that he could get used to living without them.

He was surprised that the Hokage didn't use his influence to send him away more often, his constant presence around them must get annoying.

He strode through the corridor and towards the mission room, lost in his own self deprecating thoughts. He didn't notice the door to his left open until he walked straight into the Hokage.

oO0Oo

Naruto heaved the bag towards the doorway. He felt slightly sick. He wasn't supposed to touch Kakashi's books, or his tanto and katana, but he had stuffed it all into the bag that Shino had brought and dumped it out in the hallway.

Kiba and Hinata were standing just outside the door, and Shino was near the staircase keeping a look out. Naruto wished that he could make one of them set the tag, he didn't want to be the one to do it, but none of them would get past the wards on Kakashi's apartment, so Naruto had to do it, he was the only one with permission to enter.

"Is that everything?" Kiba asked.

Naruto turned to look around Kakashi's apartment, and yelped when he saw the plant.

"I almost forgot Mr. Ukki!" he wailed as he dashed towards the window.

"Who?" Kiba asked, but his question was answered when Naruto hurried back towards the door and thrust the potted plant into his hands.

"Okay," Naruto breathed in, "give it to me."

Nervously, Hinata handed him the exploding tag. The paper felt funny in his hand, dry and brittle and remarkable fragile. He was a little nervous about holding it, but it was cool nonetheless. He looked back at Kiba who was grinning excitedly, and breathed out.

"Do you remember what we said?" Kiba asked, "about how to use it.."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto turned around and moved back into the centre of the room, "how long until it blows up?"

"Two minutes," Hinata replied quietly, "so we'll have to hurry."

"And it'll only be a small explosion, right?" Naruto asked worriedly as he attached the tag to the floor, "the whole building won't…"

"Relax," Kiba scoffed, "we just spent ages figuring out what all the symbols on it mean, no one else's apartment will blow up."

Naruto nodded and tried to focus. He knew what he was supposed to do, he was supposed to push chakra into the piece of paper, but after a few seconds, he removed his hand.

"Nothing's happening."

"Are you sure…"

"Did he do it yet?" Sasuke's voice called out from somewhere down the corridor.

Naruto looked up towards the doorway, "what's _he_ doing here? He's supposed to be watching Kakashi!"

Sasuke's scowling face appeared in the doorway, "he saw me! What was I supposed to do?"

"How are we going to know if he's coming back?" Naruto panicked. He stood up and glanced around the room, feeling out of breath.

"Just hurry up," Sasuke said, "then we can leave, come on!"

"But I can't make it work!" Naruto wailed.

"Idiot!" Sasuke snarled and stepped into the apartment.

"No!" Naruto yelled, but it was too late. Sasuke took three steps into the hallway and froze. The floor sizzled for an instant with blue light, and the door slammed shut.

"Huh?" Sasuke blinked, "what… I can't move my feet!"

"You idiot!" Naruto shouted, "I told you! Kakashi has the same wards on his apartment as we do on our house! We're trapped!"

Sasuke's eyes widened, "oh…" he looked down at his feet, Naruto could see him trying to lift them off the floor, but he knew it was useless, he didn't have permission to enter, he was stuck.

"Now what?" Naruto glared at him, "you've ruined it! Bastard!"

Sasuke glowered at him, "just help me!" He struggled to move, waving his arms about, and Naruto could hear Kiba banging on the door.

"We're stuck!" Naruto dived past Sasuke and pulled on the door handle, "Kiba! We can't get out!"

"Um… Naruto…" Sasuke said.

"Not now," Naruto kicked the door and then ran towards the window, "I'm trying to find a way out." He knew it was pointless, they were sealed in, only Kakashi would be able to free them.

"Naruto…" Sasuke's voice had taken on a frantic edge.

"What?" he gave up trying to open the window and glared at Sasuke, but the other boy was looking at the floor in the middle of the room.

Naruto followed his gaze, and looked at the exploding tag attached to the floor. The edges of the paper were crinkling and curling, turning a scorched brown.

"Oh no…"

oO0Oo

Minato couldn't hold the gasp in when he realised whose arms were around him. He hadn't been paying attention, he had almost been knocked to the ground when he walked out of the toilets, he would have ended up sprawled on the floor if Kakashi hadn't grabbed him.

"Sorry sensei…" Kakashi said, holding Minato steady, "are you alright?"

Minato licked his lips as Kakashi's arms disappeared from around him, "I thought you weren't going to call me that anymore."

Kakashi smiled and scratched his head, "right… it'll take a little getting used to."

Minato straightened his coat and met Kakashi's gaze. He could feel himself flushing. Not thirty seconds ago he had been imagining all kinds of things about the man in front of him, and his arousal plummeted into shame now that Kakashi was looking at him.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked.

"I'm going to request a mission," Kakashi replied, "shouldn't you be in a meeting?"

"I escaped," Minato grinned, "what kind of mission?"

"Oh, uh…" Kakashi suddenly couldn't meet his eyes, "one that pays well."

Minato frowned in concern, "do you need some money? I could…"

"It's not that, I…" Kakashi shrugged, "it's been a while since I went on a higher ranking mission."

Minato nodded and guiltily bit his lip. It was his fault that Kakashi hadn't been assigned any S-ranked missions in a while, not because he doubted Kakashi's abilities, but because he _needed_ Kakashi, he couldn't consciously put him in danger, or send him away for too long. Yet another reason the council had to throw tantrums at him, only on this subject he refused to give in.

"Well… why don't we have lunch and we can find you a suitable mission," he said, hoping that he could distract Kakashi from S-ranks, or maybe he could find a well paying mission of a lower rank.

"Um… actually I was going to…" before Kakashi could finish his sentence one of the chuunin from the mission room came skidding around the corner.

"Hokage-sama!" the chuunin yelled, running towards them, "Naruto-chan and Uchiha Sasuke are trapped in Kakashi-san's apartment…"

Minato frowned in confusion, "what?"

"_My_ apartment?" Kakashi and Minato exchanged a puzzled glance before the chuunin halted breathlessly in front of them.

"What are they doing in your…"

"There's an exploding tag…" the chuunin gasped for breath, "Aburame Shino… he told us…"

"What?" Minato grabbed the man by his jacket, "what are you talking about?"

oO0Oo

Naruto couldn't get the exploding tag off the floor. It was stuck, and he was having difficulty keeping his tears from falling. He gave up on the tag and stumbled back to Sasuke, who had turned deathly white and was furiously trying to rip his feet from the floor.

"We're going to die," Naruto gasped as he grabbed his friend and tried to drag him away, "this is all your fault!"

"Can you open the window?" Sasuke asked in a quivering voice, "you could smash the glass and jump out…"

"What about you?" Naruto cried, "you can't move!"

Sasuke bent down and clasped his ankle, desperately trying to pull his foot up, "you could get help…"

"There's no time!"

"Idiot!" Sasuke straightened up and shoved Naruto back towards the window, "just go already! Hurry up!"

"No!" Naruto leapt back towards him and tried yet again to make the boy move, "I won't!"

There was smoke rising from the tag now, the entire thing had wrinkled and cracked. It would explode at any second.

"Maybe we can put something in front of us," Naruto gasped, "to protect us…"

"I knew this was a bad idea," Sasuke sniffed loudly.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and pulled, but he only managed to drag them both to the floor, Sasuke's feet were still attached to the floorboards.

Then there was nothing but white and red. There were crimson flames all around them, billowing with movement.

Out of the corner of his eye Naruto thought he saw Kakashi in a swirl of purple smoke, before the world seemed to lurch beneath them and a pair of strong arms clamped down around him.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the explosion. But the blast was above the building, in the air above the roof, and standing just beneath it was Kakashi, perched on top of the building and looking down at them.

The red flames were on his dad's coat, Naruto let out a sob as the arms around him loosened.

"Naruto…" his dad released him from his arms and touched his shoulders, and Naruto couldn't stop crying. He lifted his arms to wrap them around his dad's neck, when he was yanked to his feet by the hands gripping his shoulders.

"What the hell were you thinking?" his dad shook him, yelling angrily down at him as his hands tightened around his upper arms hard enough to leave bruises. Naruto looked up into his face, blinking away tears, to see his dad glaring down at him.

"How could you be so stupid?" his dad shouted, "you could have been killed! What is wrong with you?"

Naruto couldn't reply; all of the air whooshed out of his lungs when he was shaken roughly again. All around him he could see faces staring at him in shock, a crowd had gathered and they were looking at him in horror.

Hinata was standing at the side of the road crying, and Kiba was shaking next to her. Sasuke had stumbled backwards, but when Naruto turned to look at him, his parents had pushed their way through the crowd and scooped him up, hugging him fiercely.

Naruto's dad shook him again, "answer me, Naruto! What the hell were you doing?"

Kakashi suddenly appeared beside Naruto's dad. He was looking at Naruto as though he was seeing him for the first time. Naruto wanted to throw up. His vision blurred behind his tears and more sobs welled up in his throat.

"I-I'm s-sorry…"

"I don't care!" his dad yelled, squeezing his shoulders painfully, "you could have died! You stupid boy!"

Naruto thought that he was dying. His dad hated him, and Kakashi looked so disappointed, and everyone was watching.

He wrenched himself out of his dad's hold and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.


	9. Part 9

Kakashi made a move to go after Naruto. He thought that his heart had stopped, Naruto could have been killed. They had made it just in time; the Hokage had gotten the boys out of the building and Kakashi had ripped the exploding tag from the floor and transported himself onto the roof to hurl it into the sky.

But before he could move after Naruto, the Hokage seemed to collapse. Kakashi only just managed to grab him before he hit the ground.

"Sensei!" he held the man firmly against him, but when he looked for Naruto, the boy had vanished.

He looked back at the Hokage, and frowned when he saw how pale the man was, how his eyes had gone glassy with shock and his hands were shaking. He had only acknowledged how terrified he had been with the thought of Naruto being hurt, he hadn't considered what that thought would do to his teacher.

"Sensei?" he tried shaking the man slightly, hoping for some sort of response, but when he received none he tightened his grip on the Hokage and in a soft voice said "Minato?"

Suddenly Kakashi was looking back into a pair of wide blue eyes. Minato stared straight through him for a moment, before his eyes seemed to clear and he clutched at the arms holding him up.

"I'm going to be sick," Minato whispered. Kakashi pulled him to the side of the road and sat him down on the grass.

"Shows over!" he yelled at the gathered spectators.

He turned to crouch down beside Minato as the crowd slowly dispersed; the man was holding his head in his hands and breathing heavily. He looked as pale as a sheet. Kakashi wanted to stay, to make sure that he was alright, but he couldn't.

"I'm going to find Naruto," he said, before he stepped back and ran in the direction Naruto had vanished. At one time he would have said that the most important person in his life was Minato, but now he knew better. That person was Naruto and Kakashi needed to find him.

oO0Oo

Naruto pulled himself onto the highest branch he could reach and huddled against the trunk. He wrapped his arms around his legs and hugged his knees to his chest. No one would be able to see him from his perch behind the leaves. He scrubbed his face with his sleeve, but the moment he had wiped the tears from his cheeks a sob burst from his mouth and he started to cry again.

He wanted to go home. He wanted a hug from his dad. But his dad had been so angry at him, he had never heard his dad yell like that before, and he knew that his dad had never looked at him with quite so much fury in his face.

But it was Kakashi's expression that made Naruto sob harder. He had looked at Naruto with so much hurt confusion that Naruto thought his heart was being crushed. He had hurt Kakashi, and just thinking about it made Naruto press himself closer to the trunk and try to make himself smaller. He couldn't go home, because he didn't want his dad to yell at him, and he never wanted to see that expression on Kakashi's face ever again.

"Naruto," he jumped in fright at the sound of Kakashi's voice floating up from beneath the branches. He pressed his lips together to stifle his sobs and buried his face in his knees. He didn't want to see Kakashi; he didn't know how to say he was sorry. He had tried apologising to his dad, but it hadn't made any difference, everyone was still so upset with him.

"I know you're up there, Naruto," Kakashi said, "can you come down?"

Naruto wished he could sink into the bark behind him and disappear. He kept as still as he could, thinking that Kakashi might go away if he received no answer.

He yelped when the branch creaked with added weight, and opened his eyes to see Kakashi crouched in front of him. He hugged his knees tighter and looked everywhere but at Kakashi's face.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked quietly, leaning closer to Naruto.

He shrugged. He felt slightly ill. Why wasn't Kakashi yelling at him? Why had he come to find him if he wasn't going to tell him off?

"Come on," Kakashi sighed as he held his hand out to Naruto, "I'll take you home."

"I don't want to go home," Naruto shook his head frantically, staring at his knees.

"Why not?"

Naruto wiped his eyes again, "because… dad's mad at me."

Kakashi dropped his hand and sat down across the branch, "no he isn't. He was just scared."

Naruto cautiously lifted his head to look at Kakashi, to find that he wasn't glaring at him, or looking at him with that awful hurt expression. He was watching him with worry and Naruto could see the outline of a pained smile behind his mask.

"Aren't you mad?" he whispered.

Kakashi shook his head, "no. I'm just glad you're ok."

Naruto let go of his knees and tugged the sleeves of his jacket over his hands so he could wring the fabric nervously, "but I tried to blow up your apartment."

Kakashi shrugged, "it's just an apartment. You're much more important."

He was still expecting angry words and a harsh punishment, but he felt very small and vulnerable all of a sudden. He wanted someone to bundle him up and make everything better, so he wriggled across the branch towards Kakashi, slowly, in case Kakashi really was mad at him, until he was pressed up against Kakashi's side.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around him and tugged him onto his lap, "it's ok."

oO0Oo

Minato wandered into the kitchen and looked around. He could barely even remember getting home, all he could remember was the mind numbing panic he had experienced when he had flashed into Kakashi's apartment to find his son seconds away from death. He could vaguely remember yelling, and Kakashi's worried face, but other than that the world had been foggy.

The ANBU who were always shadowing him had escorted him home, but now that he was hovering in his kitchen and the fogginess had faded, the panic was returning. Naruto could have been killed. Losing Naruto would destroy him, he couldn't let anything happen to his little boy, but Naruto could be anywhere and he was floating aimlessly through his house while someone else was searching for him.

He rushed towards the front door; he needed to be looking for Naruto, not waiting around for someone to bring him home. But when he yanked the door open he froze. Kakashi was standing on the doorstep, and huddled behind his leg, clutching Kakashi's hand, was Naruto.

The boy peered around Kakashi's hip, and his tear stained face looked up into Minato's. He looked so small and frightened, and Minato felt his heart crack a little.

"Naruto!" he gasped as he stepped forwards. Naruto seemed to shrink behind Kakashi, but Minato just grabbed his arm and heaved him forwards, until he could pick him up and crush him against his chest.

"Don't ever…" he had to squeeze his eyes shut when his voice cracked, "don't ever do anything like that again."

He could feel Naruto nod against his shoulder as his little arms wrapped around his neck. He didn't know what he would do if he lost this; he wouldn't be able to carry on.

"I'm sorry, dad," Naruto whispered into his neck. Minato released a sound that was part laugh, part sob, and squeezed Naruto tighter.

"It's ok," he breathed, "it's fine."

When he opened his eyes he saw Kakashi watching them. He didn't know how to read what little he could see of Kakashi's expression, but the relief that hit him almost knocked him down. He had his boy in his arms and the man he loved within arms reach, he could have lost everything, but now they both seemed so much more precious.

"Come on," he smiled at Kakashi as he cocked his head to beckon him inside.

oO0Oo

Kakashi nudged the door closed behind him. He could hear Minato's footsteps fade down the hallway as he carried Naruto into the main room, and once he was alone in the hall he had the uncomfortable sensation that he was intruding. Minato and Naruto were wrapped up in each others arms, tangled up in relief and residual fear, and Kakashi was just the family friend, hovering in their shadow when he should just leave them to it.

But that didn't stop him from moving into the main room and watching them settle onto the couch. Minato was wiping Naruto's cheeks and speaking to him softly. Kakashi had never felt more like an intruder.

"Um…" he glanced around, searching for an excuse to stay, "I'll… make tea."

He hurried into the kitchen without looking back at them. Every now and then he heard Naruto sniffle softly, and from the kitchen their quiet voices were indistinct, but every time Naruto's voice reached his ears some of the pressure in his chest eased.

He pulled his mask down as he made the tea and concentrating on breathing. He hadn't asked why Naruto had detonated an exploding tag in his apartment, and the truth was that he didn't want to know. He couldn't think of a good reason for Naruto to want to destroy his home and all of his possessions, so he refused to think about it at all.

He hesitated when the tea was made, he still felt like some sort of interloper, but he couldn't stay in the kitchen forever, and there was still an aftertaste of panic in the back of his throat, he needed to look at Naruto again, just to make sure that he was in one piece.

He carried the cups into the main room, where Minato and Naruto were huddled next to each other on the couch. Naruto was wiping his nose with a tissue and cuddling into his dad's side, while Minato soothingly rubbed his back. Kakashi didn't know what to do with himself. He wanted to crawl onto the couch beside them and have some sort of contact with them both, but he wasn't a part of them, he was on the outside looking in.

"I didn't mean to frighten everyone," Naruto mumbled in response to something Minato had said.

"I know," Minato said, "but why did you do it? You know you're not allowed to play with exploding tags."

Kakashi froze, a cup of tea in each hand. He didn't want to hear this, he didn't want to know why Naruto had tried to destroy is home, but he had nowhere to hide, he couldn't turn and run without looking like he was fleeing.

"Because…" Naruto's voice broke with fresh tears, "I just wanted him to come and live with us."

The tea cups shattered when they hit the floor.

oO0Oo

Naruto whipped around to look at Kakashi. He hadn't realised that Kakashi was standing there, but he had dropped the cups, there was tea all over the floor. He couldn't quite meet Kakashi's eyes, he was still so ashamed of what he had done. It was stupid of him to listen to the others, he should have known that it would upset everyone if he tried to blow up Kakashi's apartment.

"What do you mean?" his dad asked, "you…" the hand that had been rubbing his back stopped, "did you think that he would come and live here if you blew up his apartment?"

Naruto nodded miserably. Kakashi still hadn't moved or said anything, and his silence was pressing in on Naruto, making him want to start crying again.

"Naruto…" his dad sighed, "we've talked about this…"

"But why?" Naruto looked up into his dad's face, "You said that he wouldn't want to live with us… why not?" He finally glanced up at Kakashi, and bit his lip when he saw the shocked expression on Kakashi's face.

"Why don't you want to live with us Kakashi?" he asked, stumbling slightly over his words as confusion and grief welled up in his chest, "I can be better, I'll be really good, I promise!"

"…Naruto," Kakashi swallowed.

"I'm sorry about the exploding tag," Naruto cried hastily, "and about the ramen, and the flowers, and the lucky charm, but I just wanted you to move in with us. Please can you come and live here?"

Kakashi looked from Naruto to Minato and back again. He looked lost, and Naruto didn't know how to make him understand. They were a family, his dad and Kakashi were _his_, and he wanted them all together, all the time. He didn't have a mum, but he had Kakashi and he was even better than a mum. He wanted them to live together like a real family.

"I can't live with you Naruto," Kakashi said softly, "I'd only get in the way."

"No, you wouldn't," Naruto's dad said suddenly. Naruto turned to look at him, startled. His dad looked a little surprised himself, his eyes were wide but his lips were a determined line, "we'd love you to live here Kakashi."

Naruto nodded eagerly. Kakashi was looking between them in bewilderment, "you would?"

"Yeah!" Naruto scrambled off the couch, "please? You could even have my room if you want, and I'll be really well behaved all the time so you wouldn't get annoyed with me."

Kakashi simply blinked. He was slack jawed with surprise as he stared down at Naruto, "you really want me to live here?" he looked at Naruto's dad, "but…"

"You're part of the family," his dad said, "if you… if you'd prefer to stay in your apartment then that's fine… I just… we miss you when you're not around."

"I…" Naruto could see Kakashi's adam's apple bob as he swallowed, "I don't know…"

"Don't you want to live with us?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi held his hands out in panic and shook his head frantically, "that's not what I meant, of course I do, but…"

"Really?" Naruto's squealed, "really? You do?" Naruto whipped around to beam at his dad, "did you hear that? He said yes!"

"He didn't actually agree, Naruto," his dad replied, but there was a smile around his eyes.

Naruto turned to throw himself at Kakashi, and when he was caught within Kakashi's arms he laughed delightedly. He couldn't believe it, Itachi had been right, this whole time all he had needed to do was ask them both at the same time. He wrapped his arms and legs around Kakashi and squeezed with all his might.

"Just don't blame me when you find dog hair over everything," Kakashi chuckled.

oO0Oo

Minato couldn't stop grinning. Naruto was bouncing around the table in excitement, describing how they were going to decorate the spare room for Kakashi, and the man in question was slouched in front of a cup of tea, a small, pleased smile on his lips as he stared into his tea cup. Minato felt happy enough to burst.

"We could paint it like we did our picture Kakashi!" Naruto cried, "you could paint the ceiling on your hands like before, and you could…"

"Naruto," Minato laughed, "keep still, you're making me dizzy."

"He could put Mr. Ukki in the kitchen, right?" Naruto beamed, "near the window? And we'll need to find somewhere to put the dog baskets, just in case…"

"Naruto," Kakashi said suddenly, "about what you said before…"

Naruto stopped skipping around them and blinked at him in expectation.

"I understand why you set off the exploding tag," Kakashi went on, "but what you said about the ramen and the flowers, how were they supposed to get me to move in here?"

Minato frowned when Naruto went white. He was scuffing his feet over the floorboards and looking away, "because…"

"Because what?" Minato asked curiously, "were you trying to impress Kakashi with your cooking skills so that he'd be desperate to live here?"

Naruto nibbled on his lip for a moment before he replied, "that's what people do before they live together," he said quietly, "they go on dates and do kissy stuff, like Shikamaru said."

Minato frowned in confusion.

"You know…" the boy looked up at them with a pained expression, "Shikamaru said that _all_ parents go on dates and do the kissing thing before they live together."

Minato felt himself pale. He went utterly still.

"Um…" he breathed, "what makes you think that Kakashi and I… uh…"

He turned to glance at Kakashi, and saw his cheeks turn a rosy shade of pink as he stared at Naruto.

"Did you…" Kakashi blinked, "just call me your parent?"

Naruto shrugged, "I know you're not a mum or anything, but Chouji said that his cousin has two mums, so it's like I have two dads. Isn't it?"

Kakashi's cheeks turned even redder. He turned to look at Minato and his lips curved in a delighted smile.

Minato grinned back at him, "I guess it is."


	10. Part 10

Naruto charged across the street towards the Uchiha compound, heedless of his dad calling for him to be careful and Kakashi's amused chuckles. He was filled with boundless excitement, and there was no one he wanted to share it with more than Sasuke.

Naruto skidded to a halt at Sasuke's front door and knocked frantically, desperate to see his friend. He had been grinning so hard that his cheeks ached, and when the door opened to reveal Sasuke standing in front of him, with his shoulders slumped and a miserable expression on his face, Naruto squealed happily and threw himself at the other boy.

"Sasuke!" he yelled, right into his friend's ear and Sasuke stumbled back into the hall beneath Naruto's weight, "Kakashi's moving in with us! We're going to get his stuff now, you have to come!"

He leapt back and grabbed Sasuke by the wrist, fully intending to drag the boy out into the sunshine and to Kakashi's stupid, old apartment to help them pack. But Sasuke dug his heels in and held onto the doorframe, causing Naruto to be yanked back towards him.

"Huh?" Naruto spun around, "come on! What are you waiting for? Didn't you hear me? Kakashi's coming to live with us!"

"I can't come," Sasuke replied softly, with a pathetic expression.

"Why not?" Naruto frowned, "are you grounded? What did you do?"

Sasuke straightened up, and set his features into a determined mask, "I'm not grounded."

"Then let's go!"

"I'm not allowed to play with you anymore."

Naruto blinked in surprise. It took him a moment to understand Sasuke's words, and when they had sunk in he released his friend's wrist and frowned at him, "what do you mean?"

Sasuke was staring over Naruto's shoulder rather than meeting his eyes. He was standing as still and stiff as stone, "my dad says I'm not allowed to play with you anymore. You almost got me killed and you… you're a bad influence."

Naruto gaped at him, "but… I didn't… that wasn't…"

Sasuke's determined mask cracked a little as he met Naruto's eyes. For a split second he looked as upset as Naruto felt, but then his eyes hardened and he turned away. Naruto tried to speak, but his words were lodged behind the lump in his throat.

"You don't want to be my friend anymore?" He asked, his voice wobbling on the last word.

Sasuke's lips were pressed together, and his face looked paler that it usually did, "I'm not allowed."

Naruto's hands were shaking. He balled them into fists to stop the tremors and screwed his face up into a scowl to fight the prickling behind his eyes. All of the excitement he had been feeling caved inwards, creating a gaping hole in his stomach, making his tummy ache.

"Fine!" he spat, "I don't care!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. The boy looked frightened, and when Naruto took a step backwards, glaring heatedly at his ex-friend, Sasuke's cool façade shattered. He stumbled out of the doorway towards Naruto, looking at him with desperation.

"I tried to tell him," Sasuke said hurriedly, "he wouldn't listen to me…"

"I don't care!" Naruto yelled again, "I never wanted to be your friend anyway!"

Sasuke's face fell. He looked completely destroyed but Naruto didn't care, he spun around and raced back out towards the street, ignoring Sasuke plaintively calling out his name.

oO0Oo

"Whoa!" Kakashi grabbed Naruto by the shoulders before the boy could run into his legs, "what's the hurry? Where's Sasuke?"

"He's not coming!" Naruto shouted up at him, with a furious expression and water welling up in his blue eyes, "I don't want him to come! I hate him!"

Kakashi was lost for words. He looked to Minato, who was frowning in concern down at his son, "did the two of you have a fight?"

Naruto wrenched himself away from Kakashi and marched off in the direction of Kakashi's apartment.

"I thought he was you best friend," Minato called after the boy, smiling in a bewildered way.

"No he isn't!" Naruto screeched over his shoulder, "I'm never going to play with him again!"

Kakashi watched the little boy storm away, and felt an undeniable need to charge into the Uchiha clan house and demand to know what Sasuke had done to upset Naruto. But Minato's hand fell onto his arm and steered him in the direction Naruto had taken.

"Come on," Minato said, shaking his head slightly, "it'll all blow over. By tomorrow they'll be as thick as thieves again."

"How can you be so sure?" Kakashi asked, trying to disguise a shiver as Minato's hand stroked down over his arm before falling away.

"Believe it or not," Minato grinned at him as they fell into step, "I have vast experience dealing with hyperactive little boys and their broody, stuck up best friends."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and looked at Minato suspiciously, the man was looking at him with fondness mingled with regret, and he realised that they boys he was talking about were not Naruto and Sasuke. "You're talking about me, aren't you."

Minato laughed, "don't be ridiculous. You were never a hyperactive little boy."

"I was never stuck up either," Kakashi told him firmly.

"But you don't deny that you were broody!" Minato said gleefully.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. As happy as he had been just a moment ago, something close to sorrow began to seep in around the edges, just as it did every time he thought about Obito. He could see the same sorrow gathering in Minato's eyes and hastened to say something to break the sombre atmosphere.

"Whatever you say, sensei."

Before he could prevent it, Minato had whipped his hand out and pinched Kakashi hard on the arm.

"Hey!" Kakashi slapped his hand to his bicep and gaped at Minato, "what was that for?"

The man raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm going to pinch you every time you call me 'sensei'," he replied, before hurrying after Naruto.

oO0Oo

Minato caught up to Naruto, who had stopped just outside Kakashi's apartment building to talk to two little girls from his class. He had meant what he said to Kakashi, he fully intended to pinch him whenever he called him 'sensei' rather than his name. He was determined to train the propriety out of the younger man.

"Dad!" Naruto cried, grinning happily, all prior anger forgotten, "Sakura and Ino want to help us move Kakashi's stuff!"

"I don't have that much to carry," Kakashi said as he joined them.

Minato hid a smile when the two little girls squealed in unison, looking between Minato and Kakashi with wide eyes and rosy cheeks.

"Naruto," the little blonde girl said, yanking Naruto's arm, "I'll be back in a minute, don't start without me!"

Minato watched her jerk around and run through the crowd, while the other girl, Sakura, clasped her hands behind her back and swayed from side to side, smiling shyly.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," she said.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," he replied, amused when the girl giggled.

"Let's go!" Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her up to the entrance of Kakashi's apartment building.

"Is that the girl that Naruto never shuts up about?" Kakashi asked.

Minato nodded, grinning manically, "they look so cute!"

Shaking his head, Kakashi stepped around him and followed the children into the building.

oO0Oo

"This is Mr. Ukki," Naruto said as he handed the plant carefully over to Sakura, "you have to be really careful, hold the pot like that, and don't drop him."

"I'm not going to drop it, Naruto!" Sakura huffed.

"I know," Naruto beamed at her, "that's why I want you to carry him, 'cause you'll take really good care of him."

Sakura's glowering face twitched, until she was smiling back at Naruto, "oh, alright then."

For some reason, Naruto's dad was sitting on the kitchen worktop, watching the two of them with a stupid look… the one he always wore when Naruto did well on a test, or hit the target during kunai practice.

"What are you going to carry, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

Naruto straightened his back, "I'm going to carry these," he held up the straps attached to the scabbards of Kakashi's swords.

"I think not," Kakashi swiped the swords into the air and in the blink of an eye replaced the straps in Naruto's hand with Pakkun's dog bowl, "you can take this."

"Meh! Stupid! I can carry the weapons!" Naruto scowled after Kakashi as he stalked back towards Naruto's dad, but Naruto's gaze halted at the open door. Standing in the doorway, Ino waved.

"I'm back!"

"Where did you go, Ino-pig?" Sakura frowned.

Before Ino could reply, Chouji's face peered around the doorframe, "hi, Naruto!"

"Chouji!" Naruto shuffled around the piles of books towards the door.

"Move it, Chouji!" Kiba's voice growled, and by the time Naruto reached the doorway Kiba had elbowed his way to the front. Ino was standing behind him, scowling at the back of his head, and Shikamaru was behind her, leaning on the wall.

"Hinata and Shino are on their way," Kiba said, "so… can we come in? Or will we all get stuck inside and nearly die?"

Naruto grabbed Kiba's jacket and heaved him inside, "dad! We have more helpers!"

Kakashi peered around the corner from the kitchen, "I don't have that much stuff you know."

Naruto grinned at Kiba, "here!" he thrust the dog bowl into Kiba's hand, "you can carry this!"

The rest of Naruto's friends elbowed their way into the apartment, and Ino charged straight for Sakura.

"What's that thing?" Ino peered down at Mr. Ukki held in Sakura's hands.

"It's Mr. Ukki," Sakura said, holding the plant pot away from Ino, "Kakashi-san's pet plant. Naruto wants me to carry him because I'll be careful with him."

"Pff," Ino sneered, "you'll drop him! I'll carry him."

"No!" Sakura stumbled backwards as Ino reached for the plant, "I'm carrying him! Get your own!"

Naruto felt his stomach drop when he thought that Sakura would drop the plant pot, and he stepped towards them, fully intending to rescue Mr. Ukki. But before he reached them there was a knock on the open door, and everyone turned to face the new arrival.

Naruto felt his breath freeze in his lungs when his eyes met Sasuke's.

For a split second Naruto felt a smile attempt to claw its way onto his face. His heart practically burst at the sight of his best friend, the one person he had wanted to bring with him to Kakashi's apartment. But he forced his joy down and crossed his arms over his chest. Sasuke wasn't his friend anymore.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto snapped.

"I want to help," Sasuke replied, seemingly hesitant to step over the threshold.

"Tough!" Naruto snarled, "we have plenty of helpers, and Kakashi doesn't have that much stuff."

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He simply stared at Naruto for a few moments, before Naruto's dad jumped from his seat on the kitchen worktop.

"Come on in Sasuke," he called, "I'm sure we'll find something for you to do."

"No!" Naruto yelled, "he's not allowed! His dad said!"

Naruto's dad turned to frown at Naruto, "what do you mean?"

Naruto's expression darkened, but his lower lip was starting to tremble despite how angry he wanted to be, "he isn't allowed to play with me anymore."

Naruto's dad frowned and turned back to Sasuke, but Sasuke refused to look away from Naruto.

"He wouldn't listen to me!" the boy cried, taking a step into the apartment and towards Naruto, "I told him that you'd still be my best friend no matter what he says, but he never listens to me! So… so I snuck out."

Naruto's scowl faded, "really?"

Sasuke nodded, "I don't care what he says."

Naruto let his arms fall to his sides and the smile that had been trying to break out across his face finally succeeded. His dad was looking back and forth between them and everyone else in the room had fallen deathly silent.

"So…" Sasuke scuffed his foot over the floorboards, "can I help?"

Naruto let his lips quirk into a pleased smile and stepped closer to Sakura and Ino, so that he could sweep Mr. Ukki out of their feuding hands and cross the room towards Sasuke.

"Here," he said, holding out the plant, "you can carry Mr. Ukki."

oO0Oo

Kakashi bit his lips to fight off his smile. He looked at Minato, aware of the way the man had been watching Naruto and Sakura, as though he had already started to plan the wedding, but it would appear that Sakura had been dumped in favour of a broody, stuck up little boy.

But Minato was scowling across the room at the two boys, and as Kakashi took a step towards him, Minato turned to pin him with a chilling smile.

"You'll be able to handle this lot for a little while, won't you Kakashi?" Minato asked.

"Why?" Kakashi frowned, "where are you going?"

Minato's smile turned menacing, "Fugaku and I need to have words."

Without any more warning, Minato vanished in a flicker of colour, leaving Kakashi alone with a room full of little people.

Kakashi swallowed and turned to face the army of midgets that had invaded his apartment. They were all staring at him, blinking in unison, and Kakashi shuddered and fought the desire to hunch in on himself.

With some sort of collective consciousness, every last child seemed to decide that the excitement was over and that it was time to make noise. The room was suddenly in uproar as Naruto's friends clambered over one another in their haste to pack up Kakashi's belongings. He had to whip up his weapons so that none of them would inadvertently impale themselves, and he stumbled over Hyuuga Hinata on his way to rescue his Icha Icha collection.

"Oh god, they're multiplying," he muttered to himself, he was sure that there were more children than there had been a moment ago. He dumped his erotica on the kitchen table and scratched his head when he realised that he wouldn't be able to carry both his weapons and his porn. Damn Minato for abandoning him.

There was a thud and a yelp that had him moving across the room in a blur of colour. He managed to grab the corner of the bookcase in his hand before it could fall any further and crush the little blonde girl. She blinked up at him with wide, startled eyes, and swallowed hard.

"What were you doing?" Kakashi asked as he thrust the bookcase back into its rightful position.

"Looking for something to carry," she replied, "everyone else has something."

"Well you can hardly carry the bookcase," Kakashi said as the bookcase rocked back against the wall. He glanced down as something small and grey toppled from the bottom shelf and rolled across the floor to hit his foot. Curious, he reached down to pick it up, and stared at the grey crayon in his hand in confusion.

He shrugged. Plenty of useless junk had been unearthed during the packing, and as he turned to dump the crayon with the rest of the trash that had accumulated in the kitchen, Naruto screeched.

"You found it!"

Kakashi grunted in surprise as Naruto leapt on him, snatching the crayon from his hand with unnerving enthusiasm.

"It's my grey crayon!" he squealed, "I thought I lost it!"

"Excuse me," called a new voice, "Kakashi-san."

Kakashi turned and raised an eyebrow at Uchiha Itachi as the teenager graced his apartment.

"What can I do for you, Itachi-kun," he asked in a bored tone as Naruto scrambled off him and raced back to Sasuke's side.

"I've come for Sasuke," Itachi replied, "our father didn't give him permission to…"

"You can't have him!" Naruto bellowed, waving the grey crayon over his head, "he doesn't want to go!"

Sasuke was standing behind Naruto and watching his older brother with steely determination, "I'm helping Kakashi-san move house."

"If you want him," Naruto cried, "you'll have to go through Kakashi!"

Kakashi and Itachi exchanged a glance. Much to his amusement, Itachi seemed to inch backwards.

"Relax," Kakashi said, waving his hand in a carefree way, "the Hokage has just gone see your father, I'm sure they'll sort it all out."

He turned back to the pile of brightly coloured books piled upon the table and smirked behind his mask.

"Here," Kakashi grinned, dumping his precious pile of Icha Icha books into the teens hands, "you can carry these."

Itachi surveyed the garishly orange cover on the top of the pile, and Kakashi strode into the centre of the room and cast an eye over the chaos.

"Oi!" he bellowed, drawing attention to himself, "everyone, grab everything that's not nailed down and follow me."

A cheer went up as Kakashi picked up the bag his weapons were collected in and strode towards the door, with his army of mini-ninja marching in his wake and Uchiha Itachi taking up the rear, juggling Kakashi's porn collection in his arms as he simultaneously turned the page of the book on the top of the pile and continued to read, turning bright crimson, much to Kakashi's fiendish amusement.

oO0Oo

Minato followed the sound of children's laughter and dogs barking until he reached the dining room, where the partition had been pulled aside to reveal the garden. He stumbled in surprise when he saw Uchiha Itachi sitting at the table, hunched over a book and completely engrossed in whatever he was reading.

On the veranda he could see Ino and Sakura cooing over Pakkun, who was wearing an expression of grim defeat, and out on the grass the rest of Kakashi's ninken were wreaking havoc with Naruto and his friends.

Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

"Sasuke!" Minato called out to the boy clambering atop a dog big enough to swallow a man whole. The boy scrambled back onto the grass and raced towards him, with dirt smeared across his face and a grin making his eyes sparkle. Naruto saw his friend running across the garden and chased after him.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Sasuke asked, breathing heavily as Naruto joined him in front of Minato.

"Would you like to sleep over tonight?" Minato asked.

Sasuke's grin grew impossibly larger, before it fell from his face, "my father…"

"Your dad says it's fine," Minato assured him, "he gave me your toothbrush, pyjamas and a change of clothes," he held out the bag Fugaku had packed.

"Really?" Sasuke beamed, taking the bag from Minato.

"Yes!" Naruto laughed, "can we camp in the garden dad? Kakashi has a tent, Shikamaru carried it here!"

"Can _we_ stay over, Hokage-sama?" Kiba asked suddenly, holding onto Hinata's arm.

"Me too?" Sakura squeaked.

"And me!" Ino leapt to her feet.

"Well… if your parents say it – "

He was interrupted by the excited cries of a garden full of children, before they all charged past him and through the dining room, presumably to tell their parents that they were going to be camping in the Hokage's garden for the night, but not before leaving a trail of muddy footprints across the tatami mats in Minato's dining room.

Minato groaned at the mess.

"Did you just invite Naruto's entire class to a sleepover on my first night as your new lodger?" Kakashi asked. He had appeared from nowhere and was slouched against the doorframe, one eyebrow raised accusingly.

"You're not the lodger!" Minato scowled, trying to ignore the way Kakashi could make slouching look inherently graceful.

"Kakashi-sama?" came a voice. Minato's eyes went wide when he looked down at Itachi, who had moved towards them and was watching Kakashi with a sort of reverent awe. Minato looked back at the jounin and blinked at him.

"_Sama_?" he croaked.

"Yes, Itachi-kun?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly.

"The books…" Itachi glanced up at Minato out of the corner of his eye and turned a delicate shade of pink before focusing back on Kakashi, "may I borrow them?"

"Hmm," Kakashi tapped his chin with his forefinger, "I don't know…"

"I'll take good care of them, I swear," Itachi said in a breathy, desperate voice, making Minato choke on his own spit, "I'll return them to you in exactly the same condition they're in now."

Kakashi smiled, "alright then."

Itachi blinked, apparently shocked that he was getting his way, and then dashed from the room before Kakashi could change his mind. Minato watched the boy go, frozen in shock by the young man's lack of ingrained poise, before he turned suspiciously back to Kakashi.

"What did you do?"

"Hm?" Kakashi gave him an innocent flutter of eyelashes, "I don't know what you mean."

"Why is Uchiha Itachi calling you Kakashi-_sama_?" Minato demanded.

Kakashi shrugged smugly, and despite the mask Minato could see his smirk, "all I did was introduce him to soft core porn, now he thinks I'm some sort of god, or something."

Minato felt all of the colour drain from his face, "please tell me you did not just let the apple of Uchiha Fugaku's eye leave this house with your Icha Icha series."

"He's a teenager," Kakashi said, as though that absolved him of all guilt, "he needs to learn about sex from somewhere, and he's not likely to learn anything from his parents, those two are as asexual as…"

Minato interrupted him with a groan and staggered towards the chair that Itachi had been sitting in earlier, "after today, I won't be surprised if the Uchiha clan decide to plan a coup."

"Tell me what you did to Fugaku," Kakashi said, with glee dripping from each word as he hopped up to sit on the table beside Minato, placing one tantalising thigh right in Minato's line of sight.

"Uh… nothing," Minato forced his eyes up to Kakashi's face, "we just had a conversation."

"Did you make him cry?" Kakashi was practically bouncing, and Minato had to smother a smile.

"Don't be ridiculous," he doubted Fugaku had ever shed a tear, he had probably been born with frown lines on his forehead.

"You should have taken me with you," Kakashi whined, "I would have held him down for you."

Before Minato could reply, Naruto and Sasuke charged into the dining room, around the table and then into the hallway, where they grabbed what had to be Kakashi's tent so that they could carry it back through the dining room together.

"Admit it," Kakashi said, watching their progress, "you only wanted me here as a fulltime babysitter. You're going to abandon me to the little demons later aren't you?"

Minato chuckled, "the thought had crossed my mind."


	11. Part 11

Minato laughed as Naruto's tent collapsed for the fifth time. Sasuke was rolling his eyes and muttering beneath his breath, and Naruto was squirming beneath the tent, yelling for help. Just when Minato had composed himself, Kakashi's ninken dived on the bundle that was Naruto and howled in unison, making Naruto wriggle harder and squeal in delight.

The garden was just as secure as the rest of the house, but Minato didn't feel comfortable leaving the children outside all night without supervision. He had resigned himself to sleeping on the veranda, or at the very least on the couch in the main room, so that he would be right there if anything happened.

He left Naruto and his friends to wrestle with the tents as he moved back inside. Kakashi was in the kitchen, washing the dishes that had been used during dinner. The younger man had his arms in the sink, humming softly to himself, and Minato found himself frozen in the doorway as he watched him.

He was only just coming to realise the torment he had let himself in for. His hands were itching with the desire to run his fingers through Kakashi's hair. He had taken his hitai-ate off and his silvery locks were falling haphazardly over his eyes, begging Minato to brush them away.

He cleared his throat and stepped further into the kitchen.

"You didn't have to do that, you know," Minato said, "I'd have cleaned up."

Kakashi turned to give Minato a smile, "I'll have to start earning my keep if you won't accept any rent."

Minato scowled at the thought of taking money off Kakashi, just the pleasure of having him around was payment enough. He strode up to the sink and snatched up a towel, "I'll dry."

"If you insist, sensei," Kakashi replied.

Minato smacked the back of Kakashi's head, "what have I told you about calling me that?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot," Kakashi replied, smirking, "I promise not to do it again, Hokage-sama."

Minato narrowed his eyes and made a move to pinch Kakashi, just as he had promised he would, but Kakashi slid out of reach and raised a handful of bubbles from the sink to smear them in Minato's hair.

Minato blinked as the bubbles slid down the side of his face, and bit the inside of his cheek. Kakashi was shaking with mirth, one hand still in the sink and the other held out in front of him, as though to protect himself from Minato.

Minato watched the younger man stifle his laughter for a moment before he took a step towards him, shoved his hand into the sink beside Kakashi's to scoop up some bubbles for himself, and wiped them over Kakashi's mask, creating a beard of bubbles.

"Hey!" Kakashi dragged his mask down, revealing a dazzling smile, and splashed water from the sink into Minato's face.

The situation degenerated from there.

He didn't know whose laughter was loudest, his or Kakashi's, but after a few moments they were both drenched, there were bubbles everywhere and the towel ended up on Minato's head. He was holding Kakashi's wrists in his hands, trying to keep them away from him, while trying to remain upright upon the wet, slippery floor.

"Alright, fine!" Laughed Kakashi, shaking his head to get his wet hair out of his eyes, "I'll call you Minato from now on."

Something tightened in Minato's chest. He was breathing heavily but he wasn't laughing anymore, he was staring at Kakashi, trying to make sense of the heat creeping up his neck.

"Minato?" Kakashi blinked in concern, his smile fading.

"I…" Minato swallowed around the lump in his throat and dragged in a shaky breath. He still had Kakashi's wrists trapped in his hands, and he suddenly realised that he could feel the younger man's pulse speeding up.

The towel slipped from his head as he leaned slightly into Kakashi, not really realising that he was doing it. "Say it again," he said, watching Kakashi's lips.

Kakashi's licked his lips, and the sight went straight to Minato's groin, "what?"

"My name," Minato said, vaguely aware that his voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper, "say it again."

Kakashi swallowed, Minato was so close he could hear it, and in a voice that sounded completely wrecked, Kakashi said, "Minato."

Minato's eyes flicked up to meet Kakashi's, and his mind stumbled when he saw how blown Kakashi's eyes were, how his irises were nothing more than thin rings swallowed up by his pupils, and how his cheeks were glowing with colour. He realised that he was clutching Kakashi's wrists so hard that he had to be hurting him, but Kakashi was making no move to pull away, he seemed to be leaning closer, until Minato could feel each exhale of warm breath across his lips.

oO0Oo

Kakashi's heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest. He could barely breathe. Minato was squeezing his wrists and pulling him slowly closer, seemingly without realising what he was doing, and the part of Kakashi that was panicking was being stealthily ignored by the insistent little voice in the back of his mind that was trying to convince him that Minato was staring at his lips with a hungry glimmer in his eyes.

He was going to kiss him. Hysterical laughter was building up in his chest but it couldn't escape because his throat had completely closed up. This couldn't be happening. He watched with a mixture of fear and elation as Minato tugged on his wrists to bring them closer together, until they were sharing the same breath.

It was happening, their noses were touching, and for a fleeting moment he could feel the pressure of Minato's lips brushing against his. He had only just allowed his eyes to fall closed when…

"NO! Look out!"

He stumbled forwards when his wrists were released. He slipped on the wet floor and had to grab the worktop to stop himself from falling. When he looked up, Minato was on the other side of the room, watching Kakashi with wide, terrified eyes and with no colour whatsoever in his face, oblivious to the yelling children and the massive dog that had barrelled into the kitchen.

Kakashi tore his eyes away from Minato and watched as Bull, the largest of his dogs, loped quickly around the table, with one corner of Kakashi's tent clamped in his massive jaws. He was dragging the tent along with him while Naruto and Sasuke raced frantically after him, chased by Kiba and Chouji who were yelling for them to catch the dog.

Kakashi breathed shakily, feeling jittery and confused. Minato had turned to stone on the other side of the room and Kakashi found that he couldn't meet his eyes. Minato had kissed him, hadn't he?

Kakashi straightened up and watched as his dog fought Naruto for the tent.

"Bull!" he yelled. The dog made a questioning noise and turned his huge head to look for Kakashi. He could see the dog's happiness in his huge, drooping eyes when he caught sight of him, and Naruto yelped when Bull charged towards Kakashi, pulling the tent and consequently Naruto along with him.

The dog slid to a halt at Kakashi's feet and looked up at him, wagging his stubby little tail furiously.

"Drop it," Kakashi told him, and Bull let the corner of the tent fall from his teeth before he barged into Kakashi, looking for affection. With the size of the animal Kakashi was crushed against the cupboards, his legs trapped behind Bull as the dog reared up to drool upon him.

"Hey!" Kiba cried, pointing to Kakashi, "Naruto! He isn't an old guy!"

Kakashi frowned, and then realised that his mask was still pooled beneath his chin. He hastily yanked it back up, and saw Minato quickly dive out of the room.

"That's what I've been telling you!" Naruto yelled as he stomped across the kitchen with the tattered tent in his hands.

Kakashi tried to shove Bull out of the way, to go after Minato, but the dog refused to budge, happy to remain leaning against Kakashi. Kakashi watched as the children piled out of the room, leaving him alone with his dog, and he slumped back against the cupboards.

oO0Oo

Minato was under no illusions as to what he was doing, he was in his bedroom _hiding_, pure and simple.

He could hear the children's laughter drifting up from the garden. Night had fallen some time ago, but he was still reluctant to leave the sanctuary of his room. He had kissed Kakashi. There was no pretending now, and he had no idea how he was supposed to face Kakashi with this hanging over them. He had managed to keep his attraction to Kakashi a secret for so long, hiding it from even himself for the longest time, and now that he finally had everything he should want, his entire family together under one roof, he had to ruin it all by asking for more.

He groaned as he dropped his head into his hands. But whenever he closed his eyes he could see Kakashi's dazed eyes and his parted lips, he could feel Kakashi's mouth slanted against his own for that one perfect second and his entire body flushed with heat.

He raised his head, blinking in confusion. Kakashi's eyes had fluttered shut when their lips met, and for an instant, Kakashi had kissed him back.

He surged up from his seat upon the bed, his heart beating wildly behind his ribcage. Kakashi had kissed him back. He had been so intent upon beating himself up about his moment of weakness that he hadn't considered what had actually happened.

When he cautiously edged down the stairs the scent of smoke wafted towards him. He moved towards the veranda when he had finally reached the bottom of the stairs and saw firelight dancing with the shadows outside in the garden. Someone had lit a campfire, and the children were huddled together near the tents giggling together with the dogs keeping watch.

As Minato wondered where Kakashi was, suddenly struck with the thought that the younger man might have left, he stepped out onto the veranda. The cold night air was countered with the heat of the fire, but Minato still couldn't suppress a shiver.

"Cold?"

Minato jumped, startled that he hadn't noticed Kakashi sitting further along the veranda, closer to the fire. He was lounging on a futon that he must have dragged outside, with the blanket that was usually thrown over the back of the couch wrapped around his shoulders and a steaming cup of tea by his knee. He had a book in his hand, and Minato wondered how he could read in such poor light before he noticed how Kakashi's skin seemed to glow in the light of the fire.

"What are you reading?" Minato asked softly.

Kakashi lifted his book, letting Minato see the bright orange book and the title emblazoned across the cover.

"Didn't Itachi leave with all those books?" he asked.

"I have more than one copy of some of them," Kakashi explained, snapping the book closed. Minato found himself gravitating towards him. Naruto and his friends erupted in laughter before huddling closer together to speak in hushed voices.

"It looks like they're having fun," Minato said as he neared Kakashi.

"You missed all of the excitement," Kakashi replied, smiling fondly down at Naruto, "we ate marshmallows, and Naruto had the dogs try to bury Kiba in the back of the garden."

Minato smiled, "is that why they all look filthy?"

Kakashi nodded, and it was only when he had to crane his neck to look up at Minato that he realised he was standing right next to him.

"Are you going to sit down?" Kakashi asked, "only, this angle is doing nothing for my neck."

Minato licked his suddenly dry lips and cautiously settled onto the futon beside the younger man. He left a full foot of space between them, but he still imagined that he could feel the warmth of Kakashi's body. He shivered, but not from the cold.

He froze when one of Kakashi's arms draped around his shoulder, drawing him beneath the blanket. All of his focus was suddenly on Kakashi's hand, and how it was resting over his shoulder, the tips of his fingers brushing his collarbone. He was snapped back to awareness when Naruto screamed, frightened by Sasuke who had crept up behind him.

"Minato?" Kakashi said hesitantly, and Minato had to close his eyes for a second, surprised by how much he enjoyed hearing Kakashi say his name. He turned to face Kakashi, not realising how close they were, as Naruto and Sasuke yelled at one another somewhere out in the garden. Kakashi must have inched closer to him without him noticing.

"Yes?" he said in response, pausing to clear his throat.

Kakashi looked nervous, his uncovered eye was wide and blinking rapidly, "you kissed me."

Minato's heart stopped. He would have fled if Kakashi hadn't been holding him in place with the arm around his shoulders. Instead he sucked in a steadying breath and met Kakashi's gaze squarely.

"You kissed me back," he said.

He could see Kakashi's cheeks colour above his mask, but the younger man didn't look away or deny it, he simply nodded.

The admission made something that had gone tight inside Minato loosen. He couldn't look away from Kakashi's face, from the uncertain light in his eye. His heart seemed to start up again and heat surged through his veins.

A smile spread out across Minato's face. Kakashi still looked as though his heart was about to fail him, but he seemed to melt when Minato wound his own arm around Kakashi's waist. There were fine tremors running through Kakashi's body, Minato could feel them vibrating up his arm.

He thought back on all of the times he had tried to deny the feelings he had for Kakashi, and he almost laughed when Kakashi leant into him and sighed in contentment. They were both idiots.

Practically in a daze, Minato raised his hand to Kakashi's face. His fingertips brushed against the material of his mask and his pulse sped up with the lingering memory of Kakashi's lips beneath his. He curled his fingers beneath the material, ready to pull the fabric down and kiss him properly this time.

"Dad!"

They both froze, stock still and staring at one another.

"Dad!" Naruto bounced up to them, practically falling in their laps, "do you know any ghost stories?"

"Um…"

"Come on!" Naruto wriggled in his lap, "tell a ghost story!"

Minato watched as the rest of Naruto's friends scrambled closer, listening avidly. Beside him, Kakashi chuckled.

"Okay…" Minato looked at Kakashi, to find him waiting along with the children for him to begin, "uh… once upon a time – "

"You don't start a ghost story with 'once upon a time'!" Naruto shrieked.

Kakashi snorted in laughter.

"Alright then," Minato said, giving Kakashi a sour look, "let's see if you can do better."

Kakashi shrugged and turned to the attentive little faces surrounding them.

"It was a dark and stormy night…"

oO0Oo

Naruto rubbed his eyes and squinted across the garden. The sun was only just coming up, the sky above the trees had turned pink. Sasuke crawled out of the tent behind him and yawned.

"Is it time for breakfast?" Chouji mumbled as he stumbled out of the tent next to Naruto's.

Naruto stretched his arms above his head and peered across the garden to the veranda, and the still sleeping lumps of his dad and Kakashi under the blankets. He padded swiftly across the grass, expecting his dad to get up at any second and find them some cereal.

But his dad didn't wake up. Even when Naruto was standing close enough to kick him he stayed fast asleep. Naruto frowned, he had never been able to get this close to his dad without waking him up before. Even the slightest noise or movement would have him wide awake and alert.

Next to his dad, Kakashi was fast asleep too. They were bundled together, curled around one another under the blanket. Naruto cocked his head to the side and watched them. They looked so comfortable that he didn't really want to wake them. He was sure that he could find the cereal by himself.

But when he turned to go into the house, he found the way blocked by his friends. They had all crowded behind him to see what he was looking at, and they didn't seem inclined to move.

"Are they dead?" Kiba asked.

Naruto scowled, "don't be stupid." But he turned back to double check that they were both still breathing anyway.

"Aren't they cold?" Hinata spoke quietly, "they've been outside all night."

Naruto's dad hummed in his sleep and burrowed further into Kakashi.

"They're cute," Sakura giggled.

Naruto rolled his eyes and kicked his dad's foot, "dad! Get up!"

His dad sprang into a sitting position, blinking blearily at them and making them all stumble backwards in fright.

"Huh?" Naruto's dad raked his fingers through his hair where it had started to stick up even worse that usual, "wha' time's it?"

"Breakfast time," Naruto said, "hey, can Kakashi make bacon and eggs for us all?"

"Bacon?" Chouji cried, pushing his way to the front.

Naruto grinned, "my dad can't cook, but Kakashi can!"

"Hey," his dad whined, "I can cook!"

"Kakashi-san!" Chouji yelled, "wake up! Bacon!"

Kakashi prised one eye open and squinted up at them, "oh god," he groaned, "we're surrounded. Quick Minato, flee for your life, I'll draw their attention."

Naruto's dad chuckled and heaved himself to his feet, "did everyone sleep well?"

"I had a nightmare," Sakura whispered.

Naruto's dad turned to scowl down at Kakashi, who hid his head beneath the blanket.

oO0Oo

Kakashi tossed the frying pan into the sink and watched as the last of the little people made off with the last of the bacon. He could envision the kitchen and him become very well acquainted since he was the only person who lived in the house that could cook without creating charcoal.

When Kakashi turned, Minato was holding out a cup of tea to him with a smile on his face.

"Where are they all?" Kakashi asked as he took the offered cup.

"In the dining room," Minato replied, "they're all huddled around the table watching Naruto draw something."

Kakashi sipped his tea and closed his eyes in bliss. When he opened them again he found Minato watching him with the same hungry expression he had been wearing the night before, they were even standing in the same spot, next to the sink.

Kakashi almost forgot how to breathe beneath the weight of Minato's gaze. He placed the cup down on the worktop with an unsteady hand and tried to figure out what he should say or do, but they hadn't actually agreed about anything where the kiss was concerned, apart from the fact that it had happened.

He had just parted his lips, preparing to speak, when Minato stepped forwards, invading his personal space, and raised his hands to Kakashi's cheeks. Kakashi was sure that the man would be able to feel him blushing through his mask, but Minato only hesitated for a moment before he gently pulled it down.

"I…" Minato swallowed and let his eyes dance over Kakashi's naked face, "I'm going to kiss you now."

Kakashi couldn't catch his breath. He couldn't find his voice to reply, all he could do was nod as he watched Minato lick his lips nervously and lean slowly towards him.

Kakashi clutched at the man's waist and surged forwards, too impatient to wait for Minato to kiss him first. Minato made a shocked sound as their lips met, but the sound quickly turned into a low, longing moan as Kakashi tipped his head and pressed closer to him.

He felt lightheaded. Minato buried his fingers in Kakashi's hair, dragging shivers out of him, and thrust his tongue into Kakashi's mouth. Kakashi had never imagined that this could happen, he didn't want the kiss to ever stop in case it was all a hallucination. He let out a desperate mewling sound that he would deny making until the end of his days as Minato pressed him back into the cupboards with the length of his body.

"Aargh!"

Kakashi's eyes flew open. Minato leapt back, and turned panicked eyes upon Naruto, who was standing in the kitchen doorway, looking back and forth from Kakashi to his dad.

"N-Naruto," Minato looked back towards Kakashi, wide eyed and deliciously dishevelled, but obviously panicking.

Naruto's friends all gathered behind the boy, drawn towards the sound of his shocked cry. Naruto pointed a furiously shaking finger at Kakashi and then at his dad, turning bright red.

Kakashi felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach. Naruto did not look pleased.

"You… you…" Naruto stammered, "you did it all backwards!"

Kakashi blinked, confused, and chanced a quick glance at Minato. He looked just as lost as Kakashi.

"You're not supposed to go on dates, then move in together, _then_ do the kissy stuff!" Naruto yelled at them, "don't you know anything?"

Minato looked like he didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or apologise. He looked at Kakashi, obviously looking for guidance in this situation, but Kakashi was at a loss, he simply shrugged.

"Um…" Minato turned back to Naruto, "I guess not."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "you're both useless."

"Hey, Naruto," Kiba said, "does this mean we have to move all of Kakashi's stuff into your dad's room?"

Naruto suddenly got a far away look in his eyes, "no…" he said as a grin spread slowly across his face, "we can move dad's stuff into Kakashi's room, then I can have the big room!" he turned towards Minato, glowing happily, "right, dad?"

"I don't think…"

"Let's go!" Naruto cried, ignoring Minato's protest, "I already know where I want to put my painting!"

"Hey!" Minato took a single step towards the children as they charged out of the kitchen, but he stopped the moment Kakashi started laughing. Kakashi clapped his hand to his mouth and ducked his head, but he couldn't stop the laughter from falling out of his mouth. He didn't know if it was hysterical laughter, relieved laughter, or amused laughter, all he knew was that if he didn't laugh he would explode.

Minato's lips quirked, "it's not funny," he said, even though he was trying not to smile.

Kakashi met his gaze and bit his lip, and realised that he wasn't laughing because he was hysterical, relieved or amused. He was laughing because he was happy. Completely, overwhelmingly happy. And his happiness was reflected right back at him in the way Minato was smiling at him.

"Ack! I forgot!" Naruto dived back into the room, clutching a sheet of paper in his hands, "Kakashi, this is for you!"

He thrust the paper towards Kakashi, grinning manically up at him. Kakashi ruffled his hair and turned the paper around, and the smile fell from his face.

It was a picture of them, Kakashi, Naruto and Minato, holding hands and smiling widely. It wasn't the images of the three of them that caused his smile to evaporate though, he had plenty of drawings Naruto had created of the three of them. It was the words scribbled across the top of the page that made time stand still.

_Me and my dads._

"Kakashi?" Naruto called, tugging on his sleeve and looking up at him with wide eyes, "don't you like it?"

How could he explain that he felt too happy to smile? He couldn't regain control of his face, he couldn't force a sound past his lips. His hands were shaking, making the paper rustle.

"Kakashi?"

Kakashi placed the picture on the worktop, bent down, threw his arms around Naruto's little body and lifted him up, squeezing him for all he was worth.

"Ah! Put me down!"

Kakashi planted the sloppiest kiss imaginable on the boy's cheek, "I love it," he said, finally managing to smile, "and I love you."

Naruto grinned back and wrapped his arms around Kakashi's neck, "I love you too."

"What about me?" Minato asked, giving them a mock pout.

Kakashi and Naruto both held out an arm, and grinning like a loon, Minato stepped into the hug and wrapped himself around them, "I love both of you."

Naruto giggled, "just don't do the kissy stuff around me, okay?"

Kakashi laughed again. He had everything he wanted, everything he would ever need, right there with him in the kitchen. Naruto had his arms around his neck and his head resting on his shoulder, and Minato had his arms around both of them, smiling at them with almost unbelieving happiness.

He wanted to capture this moment in time and put it somewhere safe, so that whenever he was feeling down he could take it out again and remember what it was like to be so immeasurably happy, to be so content that the rest of the world was nothing but a vague memory.

"Okay," Naruto said, wiggling, "you can let me go now. I need to move into my new room."

"You aren't moving anywhere, young man," Minato said.

And Kakashi carried on laughing, thinking he would never stop.

_The end._


End file.
